The rush to sign Roki Sasaki has begun, and the Japanese pitcher hasn't even formally been posted yet.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, news that Sasaki received permission from his NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, to defect to MLB has had "all 30 teams working during the weekend to come up with their finest SEC-style recruiting pitches while trying to convince Sasaki should come to their place."
More news: Roki Sasaki Makes Decision About Joining MLB
Sasaki is only 23. By virtue of his age and relative lack of professional experience in Japan, he will be subject to Major League Baseball's international amateur signing rules.
Rather than competing with Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell and other top-of-the-market pitcher for hundreds of millions of dollars, Sasaki will be subject to the limits of each team's international signing bonus pool money.
More news: Expert Offers More Detail on Surgery for Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Report
However, Sasaki's raw talent is considered in line with the best pitchers in baseball, prompting teams like the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers to send front-office officials to Japan in recent months to meet with the pitcher.
At 20 years old, Sasaki threw a 19-strikeout perfect game for the Marines in 2022. In his next start, he threw eight more perfect innings. In the 2023 World Baseball Classic, his fastball sat 100 mph. Sasaki went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 starts for Chiba Lotte in 2024, with 129 strikeouts in 111 innings.
More news: Popular Former Dodgers All-Star to Sign With Asian Team: Report
A new international signing period opens on Jan. 15. According to Baseball America, the most Sasaki could sign for at that point is $7.555 million. Should he sign earlier — once Sasaki is formally posted, he will have a 45-day window to sign with a major league team — Sasaki will make even less.
The current international signing period closes Dec. 15, and the Dodgers have the most money to give Sasaki until then:
Teams with more budget remaining in the current International Signing period (closes December 15).
BAL $2,147,300
BOS $1,035,000
LAD $2,502,500
NYY $1,487,200
SF $1,420,000
STL $1,202,200
Shohei Ohtani followed the same process when he left NPB to sign with the Los Angeles Angels in Dec. 2017. Technically, Ohtani's first contract with the Angels was a minor league deal; he was not "promoted" to the majors until spring training of 2018. Six years later, Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers are viewed as the favorites to sign Sasaki, who last winter signed Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million contract. Sasaki, like Yamamoto, is represented by Wasserman's Joel Wolfe.
For more MLB news, visit Newsweek Sports.
English (US) ·