Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
From Shohei Ohtani to Shota Imanaga to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, there’s no shortage of star Japanese talent taking over Major League Baseball.
Now MLB teams are already lining up for a chance to sign the next Japanese pitching sensation, Roki Sasaki.
Sasaki’s a 22-year-old 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher with a fastball that reaches 103 mph. He’s currently in his fourth season with the Chiba Lotte Marines, pitching in the NPB, but Sasaki wants to join MLB as soon as he can.
According to Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post, Sasaki is “almost certain” to join MLB sooner than almost any other NPB player ever has.
Boasting a minuscule ERA of 1.94 across 59 career appearances, it’s no surprise that MLB teams have known about Sasaki for several years. But now the sense is they’ll finally get their chance to make him an offer.
Janes spoke with multiple MLB execs who expressed confidence in Sasaki being posted as an international free agent this offseason. If so, it would go against what many others have done.
Players who leave the NPB before they turn 25 are restricted to a much more limited signing bonus and rookie salary in MLB. Shohei Ohtani is the only other player who left before turning 25, but the two-time MVP is clearly a rare talent.
Because of the expected reduced cost for Sasaki, it could open up his MLB free agency to “almost every team in baseball,” according to Janes. Dubbed “the best pitcher in Japan,” it’s only a matter of time before Sasaki is mowing down batters in MLB instead of the NPB. The only question is, which team will acquire his rights?
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