The New York Yankees may be considered underdogs for flame-throwing Japanese star Roki Sasaki, but they are going to give it their best shot.
After introducing new left-handed starter Max Fried at a press conference in the Bronx, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman confirmed to reporters that the team has an in-person meeting scheduled with the 23-year-old right-hander and his agent.
Sasaki, who was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball’s Pacific League on Dec. 9, is expected to sign with an MLB team in mid-January.
That is when the teams’ international signing bonus pool money resets. Because he is under 25 years old, Sasaki is treated as an international amateur. He will be subject to the signing-bonus pools usually spent on as the 16-year-old Latin American prospects.
In other words, the financial offers of each team are capped and equal. Sasaki will earn the league minimum until he reaches arbitration. What will set teams apart for Sasaki is the culture, his agent told reporters at the Winter Meetings.
Joel Wolfe indicated that the ace might be more comfortable in a smaller media market.
“All of those factors have left observers believing the Yankees, as well as the Mets, could be underdogs when it comes to landing Sasaki,” Dan Martin wrote in the New York Post.
Sasaki is a front-of-the-rotation arm with elite stuff who throws a lot of strikes. Over his career in Japan, Sasaki is 29-15 with a 2.10 ERA in four seasons in which he has been limited by injuries. He’s averaged just two walks per nine innings and struck out 32.4% of the batters he has faced. He also keeps the ball in the ballpark, allowing just 16 home runs over 414 innings pitched.
Helping Japan win the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Sasaki’s fastball touched 102.5 miles per hour.
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