On Dec. 9, Roki Sasaki was officially posted to MLB, opening a 45-day window for him to sign with teams.
Sasaki is the newest and hottest free agent to come out of Japan, but unlike Yoshinobu Yamamoto, he won't make $325 million when he signs. In fact, he won't even make $10 million, as his amateur international free agent label leaves him to make league minimum with whatever a team has left in their international signing bonus pool budget.
The Dodgers, who have a longstanding relationship with Sasaki dating back to his high school playing days, immediately emerged as the favorites to land him. A completely unsubstantiated rumor even said that Sasaki reached a handshake deal with LA last month, but the Dodgers being toward the top of his list would make sense — longstanding relationship, two Japanese superstars, World Series win.
Sasaki's agent Joel Wolfe (also Yamamoto's agent) is going to have his work cut out for him this offseason, and the two of them have been present at Winter Meetings to hear presentations from multiple clubs. On Dec. 10, Wolfe spoke to media about his client's ambitions in free agency, and nothing he said painted the Dodgers as a likely candidate to sign Sasaki.
First, and maybe most horrifyingly, he said the Padres made sense as a destination, suggested that having other Japanese players on the roster might not actually be a selling point. He also suggested that Sasaki may not want to engage with a team that has a large media presence.
Roki Sasaki's agent, Joel Wolfe, just described the pitcher as one of the most "driven" players he's ever been around and said Sasaki doesn't need to sign with a team that already has another Japanese player to be his "Senpai" (Japanese for mentor/master).
— Gabrielle Starr (@gfstarr1) December 10, 2024
Roki Sasaki agent Joel Wolfe definitely made it sound like the Dodgers aren't a frontrunner to sign him
Wolfe specifically talked about Sasaki's relationship with the Japanese media, which has been adversarial over the past few years, especially after Sasaki reportedly left the Japanese players union and his performance declined a bit in 2024. The Dodgers are now inarguably the most popular MLB team in Japan, but that might not be a plus for them if Sasaki is looking to get out from under the eyes of Japanese media a bit.
Sasaki's unique free agency means that basically any interested team should be able to afford him, and there's no reason for all 30 teams not to be interested in him. The Reds and Tigers have already said plainly that they're interested and will be making presentations to Sasaki, and some reporting has suggested that he might even prefer a small- or mid-market team to ease his transition into MLB.
The Dodgers are going to have some fierce competition all across the league for Sasaki, and despite widespread industry belief that they're still favored, everything Wolfe said suggests that it might not actually be that simple.
