Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki, expected to be the most coveted free agent amateur since Shohei Ohtani, has received permission from his Japanese team to be posted this winter — the first step in his journey to Major League Baseball.
Sasaki explained his decision to leave Nippon Professional Baseball on the Chiba Lotte Marines' Twitter/X account Saturday:
"Since I joined the team, the team has been listening to my thoughts about my future MLB challenge, and I am very grateful to the team for officially allowing me to post," Sasaki said in a statement issued by the Marines on Twitter/X.
"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."
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. He isn't in line to receive top dollar as a free agent, but will be subject to the limits of each team's international signing bonus pool money.
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MLB's rules for international amateurs also limit how much the Chiba Lotte Marines can reap in return for posting Sasaki. 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.
However, once Sasaki is formally posted, he will have a 45-day window to sign with a major league team. If that window closes before Jan. 15, his salary will be bound by teams' 2024 international amateur bonus pool limits.
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In theory, Sasaki will be eligible for free agency at 29, after he accrues six years of major league service.
Shohei Ohtani followed the same process when he left NPB to sign with the Los Angeles Angels in Dec. 2017. Six years later, Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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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 reportedly represented by Wasserman.
Between his age and relative affordability, Sasaki's market will be robust, with teams not often able to participate in the free agent bidding process lining up to secure his services.
At 20 years old, Sasaki threw a 19-strikeout perfect game for Lotte 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.
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