The Chicago Cubs have had a lot of success with Japanese players in recent history.
From Yu Darvish to Seiya Suzuki and then to Shota Imanaga, they have been able to offer a comfortable landing spot for Japanese players in Major League Baseball.
Now, they are hoping to add another prestigious name to that list.
Roki Sasaki is one of the most intriguing free agents on the market this offseason. There are a lot of teams showing interest in him, and the Cubs are among them.
After signing Imanaga last offseason, following that up by bringing in Sasaki would be a massive win.
According to a report from Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic, Chicago has already shown formal interest in signing Sasaki and are very much in the running for him.
“The Cubs have already submitted their introductory presentation to Roki Sasaki’s representatives, hoping their credibility and connections with Japanese players help them land one of the most talented pitchers in the world."
While there is no news about whether or not the Cubs have actually met in person with Sasaki, they have at least presented something to him. They have a very impressive recruiting pitch to offer him with the amount of success they have had with players from Japan.
Sasaki made 18 starts this past season in Nippon Professional Baseball. He compiled a 10-5 record to go along with a 2.35 ERA, 1.036 WHIP, 129 strikeouts, 32 walks, and 111 innings pitched.
If Chicago were to land Sasaki, they would end up having one of the best rotations in baseball with Justin Steele, Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Sasaki, and Javier Assad.
The addition of Sasaki could also open up the door to trading a player like Taillon for more offensive help or valuable prospects.
Right now, there is no telling who the front-runner is to sign Sasaki.
He is just getting started in the free agency process and almost every team in baseball should be showing interest in him since he's an international free agent who can only be signed as such.
Thankfully, the Cubs do have experience in this market, and there is good reason to believe that current Japanese players would talk highly about the Chicago experience.
Perhaps the Cubs actually can end up landing Sasaki and come through with a huge win this offseason.
Only time will tell, and fans will be waiting on the edge of their seats to see if Jed Hoyer and company can get a deal done.
