Japanese pitching sensation Roki Sasaki will have a line of suitors this offseason.
Sasaki, known for throwing a perfect game at age 20 and regularly hitting 102 mph with his fastball, has emerged as one of Japan’s most extraordinary pitching talents. The right-hander made headlines in 2022 when he struck out 19 batters in his perfect game, the youngest pitcher in NPB history to achieve the feat.
The 23-year-old has now decided to leave the Nippon Professional Baseball league early, essentially costing him hundreds of millions of dollars.
Since Sasaki isn’t 25 and hasn’t played six seasons in a foreign league, he will be considered an international amateur free agent. Because of that designation, he most likely won’t be able to sign a contract worth more than $10 million. Had he waited, Sasaki could have commanded a similar 12-year, $325 million deal to Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s.
Sasaki will be posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines and will be available to all 30 teams.
“I am very grateful to the team for officially allowing me to post,” Sasaki said in a statement posted by the Marines on X, via ESPN. “There were many things that did not go well during my five years with the Marines, but I was able to get to this point by concentrating only on baseball, with the support of my teammates, staff, front office, and fans.
“I will do my best to work my way up from my minor contract to become the best player in the world, so that I will have no regrets in my one and only baseball career and live up to the expectations of everyone who has supported me.”
Related: Top Japanese pitcher leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on table to sign with MLB team
When will an MLB team be allowed to sign Roki Sasaki?
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred revealed Wednesday night that league’s annual international signing period will open up on Jan. 15, 2025. That means Sasaki can’t sign with an MLB team before that date.
“It looks like … the signing there will happen in the new pool period,” Manfred said, via The Athletic.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are early favorites to land Sasaki, but ESPN’s Jeff Passan previously noted that other teams will be in the mix, including the San Diego Padres, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, and Texas Rangers.
Sasaki, who has been nicknamed “The Monster of the Reiwa Era,” is a very special talent who consistently throws in the triple digits. Over four seasons with the Marines in the Nippon Professional Baseball league, Sasaki posted a 29-15 record in 64 starts across 394⅔ innings, with a 2.10 ERA, 510 strikeouts, and just 88 walks.
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