Major League Baseball teams are already courting Japanese pitching sensation Roki Sasaki to join their teams.
The New York Yankees and New York Mets reportedly met with the 22-year-old ace on Thursday, while MLB insider Bruce Levine reports the Chicago Cubs had a meeting with Sasaki on Friday.
Sasaki was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball during the MLB winter meetings last week. Over four seasons with the Marines, Sasaki went 29-15 in 64 starts, with a 2.10 ERA, and 510 strikeouts and 88 walks across 394⅔ innings.
Since Sasaki isn’t 25 and doesn’t have six years’ experience, he will most likely sign a minor-league contract in the $7.5 million range, which is the top bonus pool international amateurs can receive. If he had waited two years to come over, he could have received a contract similar to Los Angeles Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto: 12 years, $325 million.
Joel Wolfe, Sasaki’s agent, told reporters at the winter meetings that after initial pitches, he and his client will begin to hold in-person meetings with interested teams. Wolfe indicated that Sasaki would be willing to sign with a smaller-market team.
It’s not known yet who else will meet with Sasaki, but one National League powerhouse has indicated they weren’t invited to the table.
National League playoff team believes they’re out of Roki Sasaki running
Philadelphia Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski revealed Friday that Sasaki’s representatives haven’t reached out to them to set up a meeting.
“We have not been invited to talk to him at this point. I have to say I’m not making any proclamations because we haven’t been told, but it’s probably running a little bit late if we’re going to be invited to the table,” Dombrowski told reporters. “We sent in our original information to him that was requested. They know that we would very much like to have a presentation. So far, we haven’t been invited to the table.”
No Roki Sasaki for the Phillies: pic.twitter.com/IpRKYAzuNV
— John Foley (@2008Philz) December 20, 2024
The Phillies were hoping to be part of the Sasaki sweepstakes as they have a starter role to fill. Dombrowski was previously envisioning a future rotation consisting of Sasaki and Andrew Painter, but that appears to have passed.
With Taijuan Walker’s struggles, the Phillies are looking for back-end-of-the-rotation help. Painter is expected to make his MLB debut in 2025 but likely won’t arrive until midseason as he is returning from Tommy John surgery. If the Phillies fail to sign someone, in-house candidates include Mick Abel and Seth Johnson.
Related: MLB insider details why Boston Red Sox have surprisingly realistic chance of signing Roki Sasaki
