The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes are winding down.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays are finalists for Sasaki, ESPN reported Monday. Sasaki’s team has told the New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers that the Japanese phenom pitcher won’t sign with their clubs, according to several reports (YES, San Francisco Chronicle, Dallas Morning News).
Additionally, the New York Mets are also not expected to land Sasaki, per SNY. The Chicago Cubs were also among the teams to meet with Sasaki.
As for the teams still in the hunt for Sasaki, the Padres hosted him over the weekend, The Athletic reported. He also visited with the Toronto Blue Jays in their home city, The Athletic added in its report. Both teams had previously met with Sasaki in Los Angeles.
The Dodgers talked with Sasaki at least once during the process. General manager Brandon Gomes told reporters that he was still hoping to secure a second meeting with Sasaki as of Jan. 7.
The Dodgers have been considered one of the favorites to acquire Sasaki for much of the offseason. They, along with the Padres, have reportedly told other international prospects to possibly reclassify and sign with the team as part of the international class of 2026. The expectation is that Sasaki will take up the vast majority of the available international bonus pool money with whichever team he signs with.
Because Sasaki is under 25 and has not played six seasons in NPB, he is classified as an international amateur and limited to a minor league contract subject to international signing bonus pools, which range from $7,555,500 to $5,146,200. Starting Wednesday, teams may make trades to increase their signing bonus allotment by up to 60% from their initial figure.
Sasaki was officially posted by his NPB team, Chiba Lotte Marines, on Dec. 9, opening the 45-day window for him to sign. So, he’ll have to make a decision on his MLB future by Jan. 23.
The Dodgers have already addressed their rotation this offseason, signing Blake Snell to a six-year deal. While they lost Walker Buehler in free agency, Shohei Ohtani will return to the mound in 2025 and Clayton Kershaw is expected to return at some point during the season.
If Los Angeles lands Sasaki, it’d have one of the most formidable rotations on paper in recent memory. Sasaki’s fastball tops 100 mph and he went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 games last year, striking out 129 hitters in 111 innings in a season limited by shoulder inflammation. He has a 29-15 career record with a 2.10 ERA over four injury-shortened seasons with the Marines.
The Padres, meanwhile, haven’t made any notable signings or trades this offseason. Adding Sasaki would further solidify the Padres’ rotation as one of the best in baseball, joining the likes of Dylan Cease, Joe Musgrove, Michael King and Yu Darvish.
The Blue Jays have been in the mix for several marquee free agents this offseason, but they’ve missed out on many of them. Still, they’ve added reliever Jeff Hoffman and traded for standout second baseman Andrés Giménez this offseason.
As for the teams that are now out on Sasaki, the Yankees already brought on another big-name pitcher. They signed left-handed starter Max Fried to a seven-year, $218 million deal in December. The Mets re-signed Sean Manaea to go along with adding Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes to bolster their pitching staff. The Giants added Justin Verlander to their rotation earlier in January after losing Snell. The Rangers re-signed Nathan Eovaldi in December.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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