Top 5 potential landing spots for Japanese ace pitcher Roki Sasaki
Roki Sasaki enjoyed a stellar campaign in 2024 with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the NPB and is now exploring a move to the MLB.
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Roki Sasaki (Image via Baseball America)
The MLB offseason in 2024 produced the biggest contract ever in professional sports when 4-time All-Star Juan Soto signed a 15-year $765 million deal with the New York Mets. While the sweepstakes for him are over now, there are some other top names who are still up for grabs. One of them is ace pitcher Roki Sasaki.
The Japanese international had an impressive campaign in 2024 with the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) side Chiba Lotte Marines. After the end of the season, the youngster admired a move away from his home country and try his hand at the MLB.
In the past few years, several Japanese players have moved away from the NPB and signed with an MLB team. Last season, Yoshinobu Yamamoto landed a massive $325 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is the largest contract for a pitcher.
Sasaki though will not hit the same numbers. Even if the teams want to, they will not be able to sign him on huge contracts. The reason why? His age.
The pitcher is currently 23 years old. As per MLB rules, international free agents under the age of 25 can only be signed using the international signing pool money. This gives all 30 teams in the league a chance to grab him. Let’s delve a bit deeper and check out his five top landing spots.
Top 5 teams who can land Roki Sasaki in ongoing offseason
5) New York Mets
As mentioned above, the New York Mets shattered sports records when they signed Juan Soto. Despite landing him, the team is active on the free agency market as they try to bolster their pitching department. They recently signed two former New York Yankees pitchers Clay Holmes and Frankie Montas, but are looking for another top name.
As per reports, the team recently had a meeting with him. Even before he was posted to the MLB, the Mets had an interest in him. Their President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns visited Japan in September this year.
The team already has Kodai Senga as their ace pitcher. Given his Japanese connection, the team’s moves in this offseason and, their recent postseason runs, the Mets could be a good option for Sasaki to test himself.
4) Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are one of the teams who has expressed interest in bringing Sasaki to their team. Last season, they were also one of the teams to land a Japanese pitcher in Shota Imanaga. That moved worked out well for them and thus they are looking to add another star from Japan into their starting pitching rotation.
The National League Central side has made some big moves this offseason. They landed Kyle Tucker in a trade from the Houston Astros and gave away Cody Bellinger to the New York Yankees.
As per the Athletic, the team has “heavily scouted” Sasaki in this offseason. With a pool of $6.2 million, they can definitely go the distance against the other contenders if it comes down to the money offered.
3) New York Yankees
The New York Yankees suffered a crushing blow to their ambitions when they failed to re-sign Juan Soto. Since then they have started working on Plan B and acquired some top names including pitcher Max Fried, whom they signed on a 8-year $218 million deal. Despite this, the Yankees want to bring in Sasaki to the Bronx.
The Yankees last offseason were one of the teams who were trying to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto. However, they came up short in that race and he went to the Los Angeles Dodgers. This time they are hoping to avoid something like this.
As per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, the team has scheduled a meeting with him. He and his agent, Joseph Wolfe will meet with the Yankees executive in the upcoming days and discuss about him.
The Yankees currently have a starting rotation consisting of Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt, Luis Gil and, Marcus Stroman. Rodon has struggled to make the type of impact he would have hoped for when he joined them. A pitcher like Sasaki could make the Yankee rotation tough to face for the opposition.
2) San Diego Padres
In the past few seasons, the San Diego Padres have emerged as genuine contenders for the title. Despite, failing in the postseason, the Padres are one of the top teams in baseball and are considered one of top two teams to land Roki Sasaki.
Just like some other teams on this list, the Padres also have a Japanese connection. Yu Darvish, the team’s ace pitcher has a good relationship with the Sasaki and is considered to be a mentor of him. Both he and Sasaki also share the same agent.
Padres coach Mike Shildt has expressed optimism regarding the signing of Sasaki. With the team’s established roots in Japan thanks to General Manager AJ Preller, Shildt claimed that Sasaki could create a legacy for himself by helping the team win their first World Series.
1) Los Angeles Dodgers
Obviously, the Los Angeles Dodgers will be on top. If there is any team who are heavy favorites to sign Sasaki, then it is the Dodgers.
While the Dodgers may not be able to flex their financial power here, they are still a team to beat. The team has a strong connection with Japan with stars like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. This could make Sasaki move to them as he will have familiar faces to work with.
On top of that, they are the reigning World Series champions. The title win in 2024 could be another factor than can drive the youngster towards them.
Recently, rumors emerged that the two parties had a handshake deal. Wolfe would later deny these talks and call it “poor sportsmanship“.
However, his Wolfe also claimed that a small-market team could be beneficial for his client. It is now upto Sasaki on which team he chooses. He can sign with a team by January 15, 2025.
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Vinay Dave
(1670 Articles Published)