A decision for Roki Sasaki is quickly approaching with the 2025 international signing period beginning on Jan. 15. The right-hander will have roughly a week to sign with a team before the Jan. 23 deadline.
Sasaki is in the process of narrowing down the field as he reportedly informed the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs that he will not sign with them.
While the Los Angeles Dodgers have long been favored to sign Sasaki, other teams remain involved as he recently met with the Toronto Blue Jays in Canada.
According to Dennis Lin, Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, that was followed by Sasaki visiting with the San Diego Padres over the weekend:
Padres officials hosted Sasaki in San Diego over the weekend after the pitcher visited the Blue Jays last week in Toronto, sources briefed on the meetings told The Athletic.
With Sasaki visiting the Blue Jays and Padres, they joined the Dodgers as the three finalists for his services. It’s not known if the Dodgers also hosted Sasaki, or if they will do so before his posting window closes.
As it currently stands, the Padres and Blue Jays can offer Sasaki the most money as they are tied with $6,261,600 in international bonus pool space.
The Dodgers have $5,146,200 in available funds after backing out of agreements with two other prospects from the 2025 class.
However, Sasaki is said to be prioritizing fit more than his signing bonus. It was believed that his preference is signing with a West Coast team, but the Blue Jays emerging as a finalist has created an interesting twist in the sweepstakes.
Dodgers have high hopes for Roki Sasaki
The Dodgers have made Sasaki their top priority with president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman going on record that they will do whatever they can to sign him.
Whether they get him remains to be seen, but the Dodgers believe Sasaki has the talent to become the best pitcher in the world.
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