Roki Sasaki has 26 days until he has to sign with an MLB team or go back to Japan. His list of potential destinations is beginning to take shape.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, long considered favorites for Sasaki, became the sixth MLB team confirmed to have met with the flamethrowing phenom on Saturday, according to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. The other five teams:
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Texas Rangers
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New York Yankees
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New York Mets
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Chicago Cubs
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San Francisco Giants
Sasaki was officially posted by his NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, on Dec. 9, triggering a 45-day window in which he can negotiate with every MLB team and sign a contract. That window closes on Jan. 23, though it’s worth noting he can’t officially sign with a team until the international amateur signing period begins on Jan. 15.
Per Plunkett, Sasaki is expected to shrink the number of suitors and hold another round of of meetings in 2025. Sasaki’s agent Joel Wolfe said at the Winter Meetings earlier this month that more than 20 teams have reached out with an interest, and the only surprise there is he didn’t say all 30 teams indicated an interest.
MLB rules prevent Sasaki from landing a contract anywhere close to the $325 million deal his countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto landed last offseason, as his 23 years of age make him bound to the same international bonus system used to sign Dominican teenagers. So whichever team lands Sasaki will be getting a nine-figure discount, one of the best bargains in baseball history.
Despite each team’s wealth being much less of a factor in Sasaki’s free agency, it can’t be ignored that all six of the teams Sasaki has talked to were among MLB’s top 10 payrolls last year. Per the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, the San Diego Padres are also considered secondary favorites after the Dodgers. They haven’t been reported to meet with Sasaki, but that hardly means they won’t.
Throughout this entire process, Sasaki’s motivations have been something of a mystery. If he favors media exposure, a track record of developing pitchers, playing in a Japan-friendly market with Japanese teammates and a promise of team success, the Dodgers are a natural fit. If he wants to play with Yu Darvish, known to be a mentor of his, and have the chance to become a team’s singular ace, it could be the Padres. If he wants to play in a smaller market with less media attention, who knows?
Even Wolfe has pleaded ignorance about which preferences drive Sasaki, likely to avoid tipping his client’s hand. However, MLB teams will definitely have a better idea in less than a month.