Decision day is coming for Roki Sasaki, and the Japanese right-hander’s group of suitors has been whittled down to three finalists, a league source confirmed to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal: the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays.
Sasaki is able to sign once the new international signing window opens on Wednesday, though he is expected to wait until closer to the end of his 45-day posting process that ends Jan. 23.
The Dodgers have been the presumptive favorite for Sasaki’s services since well before the Chiba Lotte Marines announced they would be posting the 23-year-old right-hander to prospective clubs, and are among the teams to have met with him at least once, along with the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs at Wasserman’s offices in Los Angeles in December.
The Athletic first reported on Monday that Sasaki and his representatives traveled last week to meet with officials for the Toronto Blue Jays, a seemingly late entrant into the running after recent failed pursuits for big-name free agents such as Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto. The Athletic was also first to report Monday that Sasaki followed his visit to Toronto to visit with the San Diego Padres, long seen as the Dodgers’ biggest competition to land Sasaki with their need for cheap starting pitching and Padres right-hander Yu Darvish’s prior relationship with Sasaki. Both trips were multi-day visits, according to a source.
It’s a group that largely fits the preconceived idea of what Sasaki’s market would look like at the start of the winter. At least 20 teams submitted materials to Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, the agent said last month. When Sasaki did meet with prospective teams, they were urged not to have active players present to encourage a level playing field — several clubs in the process, including the Dodgers (Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto), Padres (Darvish) and Cubs (Shota Imanaga, Seiya Suzuki) already boast Japanese-born stars and former teammates of Sasaki from the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Roki Sasaki, left, Shohei Ohtani, center, and Yu Darvish, right, pose for a team photo on March 8, 2023. (Shuji Kajiyama / Associated Press)
Los Angeles looms as a uniquely appealing landing spot. The reigning World Series champions have entrenched themselves in the Japanese market not just through their history of signing Japanese stars in Hideo Nomo, Hiroki Kuroda and Kenta Maeda but through their billion-dollar commitment to Ohtani and Yamamoto last winter. Their first season in the Southland was transformational not just for how the season ended, but how the franchise leveraged this market into real dollars. That, along with the signing of Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim, seemingly has put oxygen to manager Dave Roberts’ aspirations of turning the continent into a hub for the franchise.
The pairing has been obvious enough that Wolfe has repeatedly shot down any notion a handshake agreement was already in place. They have remained coy about their status, with general manager Brandon Gomes saying, “We hope so,” when asked if the Dodgers would get a second meeting with Sasaki earlier this month. Nonetheless, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman called the club’s pursuit of Sasaki a “major priority.”
Money will likely not be the deciding factor, with Sasaki choosing to come stateside two years before he could fully cash in. Nonetheless, Sasaki’s free agency has sent teams into a frenzy, with the Dodgers and Padres already among those altering their original plans for this signing period to clear up space for Sasaki’s potential arrival, as The Athletic broke down Monday morning.
(Photo: Yosuke Hayasaka / Associated Press)
