Right-hander Roki Sasaki re-signed with the Lotte Marines of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball today on a one-year contract, per Stephen Wade of The Associated Press.
The deal puts to bed rumors that percolated earlier in the offseason that Sasaski would attempt to make the jump from NPB to MLB this winter. Such an arrangement would have been unusual for a Japanese player look to continue his career stateside. MLB posting rules stipulate that players must be at least 25 years old and have played in at least six professional seasons before they can sign with a big league club on anything other than a minor league contract.
Some players (most notably Shohei Ohtani) make the jump prior to those benchmarks, though in doing so they limit their own immediate earnings to what clubs can offer them from their international bonus pool. Said pools range from $4,144,000 to $6,366,900 for this year’s signing period, and it’s unlikely a team would be willing or able to commit their entire pool to one player. Ohtani, for example, received a bonus of just $2.3MM when he first signed on with the Angels prior to the 2018 season.
Given Sasaki’s talent, there’s little question that he would be able to command significantly more than that if he were to proceed normally through the posting system. Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed the richest free agent deal for a pitcher in MLB history earlier this winter, and it’s possible Sasaki could look to rival that sum through the posting system given his career 2.00 ERA and 34.4% strikeout rate in 46 NPB starts. Sasaski pairs a fastball that touches triple-digits with a forkball that has allowed him to dominate in the World Baseball Classic and become the youngster player in NPB history to throw a perfect game while setting an NPB record for strikeouts in a single start with 19.
Per a report from Kyodo News, Sasaki made no secret of his MLB aspirations during a recent press conference. The phenom was quoted as saying he has a desire to play in the majors “in the future,” that he has communicated that sentiment to Lotte every year, and that the club understands his goals. The report also includes comments from a Marines executive, Naoki Matsumoto. Matsumoto indicated that there was no truth to rumors of discord between Sasaki and the club regarding the right-hander’s future plans and that Sasaki’s desire to play in the majors was known to the club prior to the 2023 campaign.
Wade notes that some reports out of Japan have indicated that Sasaki has negotiated the ability to depart for the majors ahead of the typical posting timeline, perhaps even as soon as next offseason. With that being said, however, neither Sasaki nor the Marines have given a hint as to a timeline for the righty’s jump to the big leagues. When asked about a timeline for his move stateside at the aforementioned presser, Sasaki demurred in favor of focusing on the coming 2024 campaign. Whether that move ultimately comes next offseason or sometime in the future, Sasaki has flashed the potential to be a game-changing arm for any club and would instantly become one of the most attractive free agents in the class he joins.
First? Because of boredom.
youngster–> youngest
You have greatly changed the trajectory of your future by being first.
2025 Los Angeles Dodger with Ohtani and Yamamoto.
2025 new york yankee with Judge and Soto
2025 Blue Jay with Kikuchi and Herjavec.
2025 any team but LAD or NYY
How much of it is Deferred?
Lame man. So old
grow up Beach
He’s a fan of a poverty franchise or if a Dodgers fan, just thinks this is still funny.
Everyone except Dodger fans still think it is funny though
don’t forget the morons. they do too.
Poverty schmoverty. Last I checked, Dodgers got bounced by such an organization.
Beach fan
Only the upvotes and laughter are deferred
Beach Fan’s MLBTR deal for 2024:
Infinite mocking replies guaranteed, vesting option for upvotes if they reach 5 quality comments during the 2024 season. Buy out in the form of more burns if they don’t.
Tigers are going to get him to add to their stable next year. That’s why they signed Maeda. Lots of salary room for them to do it.
Yeah I’m sure he’d choose Detroit over a team on the west coast or NY.
$$$$$ talks. Detroit has a phenomenal pitching coach in Chris Fetter. If Maeda likes it he can be an ambassador for the City. The Cubs signed Darvish so why not?
Now THAT’s comedy.
Nased on your profile I’m guessing you are a Dodgers fan. Hate to disappoint you but not every player wants to go to the Dodgers. Erod sure had no interest.
We’ll try to limp along with the few poor players we managed to get. Best of luck with the Tigers.
For a while I though the Dodgers would sign every single free agent out there. Should work out nicely for you in the regular season. The playoffs…well, I wish you better luck than you’ve had the past few years. Cheers dude.
Maybe this will be the year the Tigers get to .500. I’m rooting for you.
Guy’s plane will be on route to Toronto in 2025.
He is better off waiting until he is 25 and cashing in than going through on a minor league deal.
What happens if a team (ideally the Texas Rangers) realizes how good he is once he becomes a free agent and decides to go way over their bonus amount, knowing full well that 1 legendary player is worth way more than 10-20 random prospects? What would be the penalty? Also, if they know the guy will be there for 6 seasons of control, why the extreme reluctantance to ignore the remaining guys in the draft? Wouldn’t we all agree 6 years of Ohtani are probably worth more than all the other players in that year’s international draft combined? I hear he is better and younger than the 12/325 Yam guy.
Ohtani was in a unique situation because of his skills. He was a two-way player who could gamble more easily coming over early because he could still hit even if he blew his arm out. He also had huge endorsement deals. Sasaki would be taking a much bigger risk locking himself into six years of team control with some MLB team. Blow out his shoulder and there’s no DHing to fall back on! Wait the extra year. The deal Yamamoto signed should wake him up!
Speaking of the posting system, if a player is considered a FA because he’s played enough professional seasons, I don’t think he should be able to qualify as a “rookie.”
I’d like to predict Sasaki to the Yankees, but I don’t think the Yankees have the will or the stomach for what he’s going to command via FA. As such, Dodgers it is.
If a guy has only played in the U.S. minors but is there for 7-8 years, should he no longer qualify as a rookie if he reaches the majors? Just curious where the line should be drawn and if there’s one for everyone.
You make a good point. I think it’s the fact that these guys are coming over directly into MLB solely based on age. I think I would feel the same way if MiLB was based solely on age for FA.
I dunno, maybe I’m the only one. Maybe I’m also just wrong, lol.
I’ll admit I’ve had a similar thought at times because several years in NPB is more challenge and experience than a year or two at Triple-A.
What really bugs me is voters who refuse to vote for former NPB or KBO players for ROY solely because they played in those leagues despite the fact that nothing in the rules says they’re ineligible. Don’t like it, work to have the rules changed. Until then, they’re eligible.
Wholeheartedly agree. You can’t avoid voting for a qualified rookie just because you may want a rule changed. If he qualifies and is the best rookie, he should get the vote.
The Padres committed almost their entire international free agent pool to 1 player the last 2 years.
Is his name Sasaki or Sasaski? If he can’t sign with an MLB team until he’s 25, how old is he? Why didn’t he try to sign with an MLB team this off-season before re-signing with the Marines? Inquiring minds want to know.
From the information circulating, he made his request too late (or perhaps his team just refused to post him), thus missing the posting deadline. He is 22 years old.
Here’s a decent mlb article on his current status:
mlb.com/amp/news/roki-sasaki-planning-to-join-mlb-…
Sasaki has made it known for some time he wanted to be posted sooner rather than later. His team doesn’t need to grant that request though.
Sasaski, he’s of Polish/Japanese descent
His team refused to post him. They have that right when the player is under 25.
He’s 22 now and will be 23 next year. Next year he’ll be in the same position he’s in now and still can’t sign for anything but international bonus money. Bidding on him as a FA will have to wait until sometime in the future.
Terry g: At least someone did their research.
Unless he negotiated a release in his new contract. Don’t know if NPB would have to approve that or not.
Hes got future Dodger in 2 years written all over him.
He’s the reason why the Phillies threw themselves all over Yamamoto. They knew they did not have a shot, but wanted it known they were ready to finally dip into the market as adults -aside from the Taguchi/Iguchi seasons.
Apparently they’ve had scouts in Japan following the kid for a bit. Fingers crossed they get a seat at the “actual” table this time and not at the kid’s table….
The Mets would sign Roki Sasaki to a 13-year contract worth a whopping $520 million ($40 million AAV a year) this coming offseason once he leaves Japan to post to the majors.