There's a race to sign star Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki this Major League Baseball offseason. According to a new rumor, the San Diego Padres are looking like a strong candidate for his services. The Padres are moving ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Sasaki sweepstakes, per USA Today.
The Padres are behind this offseason when it comes to signing free agents. San Diego has a dire need for the pitcher's services, as is basically every other team with a smaller payroll.
Another edge the Padres may have in this race is that Yu Darvish, a mentor to Sasaki, pitches for the Padres. Since Sasaki is under 25 years of age, he's a MLB free agent due to the league's collective bargaining agreement.
The Padres are just one team that wants Roki Sasaki
Sasaki has dazzled the baseball world in the last few years, while pitching in Nippon Professional Baseball. That's a professional baseball league in Japan. In 2022, the pitcher hurled a perfect game. He also set a league record with 19 strikeouts in a game.
Sasaki's agent has been meeting with MLB teams this winter, to bring the pitcher over to America. Apparently, the Japanese pitcher is very interested in playing for an American club. He has asked for minimal contact with MLB players, as he and his agent field offers.
Related San Diego Padres NewsArticle continues below
“He wanted to make sure that everything was a fair and level playing field, both for his own decision-making process and for the teams,” Sasaki's agent Joel Wolfe said, per MLB.com.
20 teams personally pitched Sasaki for his services in recent months, per the outlet MLB.com. The teams put together video presentations to show the pitcher what he would mean to their teams.
“It was like the Roki film festival,” Wolfe added.
There are six teams that met again personally with Sasaki following those presentations, according to his agent. Those teams are: Yankees, Rangers, Mets, Giants, Dodgers and Cubs.
“The next steps will be something in the neighborhood of possibly meeting with one or two additional teams, or narrowing the field, which I think may be more likely,” Wolfe added, “and whether or not he wants to visit one or two cities as he tries to finalize the decision-making process.”
The Padres aren't on that list, so it seems that San Diego is fighting to put themselves back in position. San Diego finished the 2024 season with a 93-69 record, and made a playoff appearance. The addition of Sasaki could certainly do a lot for that team.
