Is Japanese ace Roki Sasaki to the MLB? The winter meetings are done, but the offseason market is yet to end. Now, it’s up to the Chiba Lotte Marines star and his agent, Joel Wolfe, to land on a deal from the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, and others. While the West Coast teams are predicted to be the favorites, where does that leave the biggest baseball brand, the Yankees?
Things don’t seem to run in favor of them. Given how the Yankees have been losing to superstars and that they have not won the World Series title since 2009, it is improbable for the righty pitcher to say yes to this East Coast team. There won’t be a lot of bidding war over him because of bonus pool money restrictions. This evidently implies that Sasaki and Wolfe won’t be able to play the money card. So, does that bring the World Series winner Dodgers to the forefront?
The Dodgers have more than a 50/50 chance
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The 23-year-old Japanese pitcher has met with almost all the top baseball teams, but the Dodgers are supposedly leading the race. There is no doubt that the team is Japan’s favorite, with Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto already playing there. As explained by Roki’s agent, “Nobody convinces Roki of anything. Roki convinces us.” Being highly career-driven, of course, the Dodgers’ 98 regular-season winnings from last year would definitely entice Sasaki. What else?
Well, “Japan’s a lot closer flight home, from LA,” said MLB insider Randy Miller. The same goes with the other favorite West Coast team, the Padres. Not just that; Padres ace Yu Darvish has reportedly been Sasaki’s idol, which puts this team in an advantageous position. Miller exclaims, “Right now, better weather in LA, less media pressure,” which means Roki Sasaki can be purposeful like he wants and not turn into a media sensation. And these are exact reasons why he might not sign a deal with the Yanks.
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Is there a single reason for Sasaki to sign with the Yankees?
To be fair, there is. Rumors are that Roki Sasaki is considering signing a team with a good history of Japanese players and one that has developed top pitchers—Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, and his favorite pitcher Masahiro Tanaka were all Yanks. With at least 6 MLB seasons available in his hands, he would definitely want a team with this much legacy.
But Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is not able to sign big names or retain them, just like Ohtani. They even lost Juan Soto to the Mets. Apparently, something is going wrong on their end—not being a winner. So, can signing Sasaki help them break this spell? During his career with the Nippon Professional Baseball, he had a 2.10 ERA and 505 strikeouts in 394.2 innings. Being a two-time All-Star, he can either put his skills to use to turn things around for the Yanks or play by Ohtani, which almost guarantees a few more World Series rings.
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Talking about the advantages of teams, every club has something or the other. The Yankees have their tradition, the Mets have their history of pitching development, and both the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs have seen success with Japanese players. Still, the Dodgers are supposedly staying ahead because of their past involvement with Kenta Maeda and Hiroki Kuroda, along with bringing in the West Coast’s thriving Japanese diaspora.
Time is ticking for teams, as they have till January 15 to put in their final offer for Roki Sasaki. Whom do you think he will sign with? Keep the comments coming.