Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga are among the stars who made the jump from Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) to MLB in recent months, and another Japanese phenom in Roki Sasaki soon could do the same.
The 22-year-old burst onto the scene while playing for Team Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and has become the unquestioned ace of the Chiba Lotte Marines.
Sasaki reportedly requested that the Marines post him for MLB free agency this past offseason, which would have been unprecedented as he is only in his fourth NPB season.
The right-hander would have been limited in terms of his earning potential as MLB posting system rules require foreign-born players to complete six professional seasons or be at least 25 years old in order to be eligible for free agency without any restrictions.
Despite these stipulations, multiple MLB teams expect Sasaki to be posted at the end of the 2024 season, via Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post:
But conversations with multiple executives, scouts and agents revealed a shared suspicion: MLB teams are planning for Sasaki to be posted this offseason, long before he would become an international free agent, even though neither Sasaki nor his team will confirm the plan.
With Sasaki expected to make the jump to the big leagues next year, several teams are regularly scouting him and preserving international bonus space in the event he is posted:
MLB scouts and executives seem to think Sasaki is coming, too. They are scouting him regularly. They are traveling to Japan to see him. And they are keeping international bonus space clear for him, just in case: Because of the limitations on how much any team can pay him, almost every team in baseball, not just the usual free-spending suspects, is likely to make a run.
Sasaki was selected by the Marines with the first overall pick in the 2019 NPB Draft. Through eight starts this season, he is 4-2 with a 2.18 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 10.5 strikeouts per nine in 53.2 innings pitched.
Sasaki possesses a fastball that topped out at 103 mph during the 2023 WBC and will undoubtedly draw widespread interest when he becomes available.
Will Dodgers pursue Roki Sasaki?
The Los Angeles Dodgers, even after adding Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Yamamoto during the offseason, are expected to be among the teams that pursue him when he is posted.
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