Japanese right-handed pitcher Roki Sasaki has been posted to Major League Baseball teams and will be available to sign as a free agent from Tuesday until 5 p.m. Eastern on January 23.
The Chiba Lotte Marines announced on November 9 that they planned to make the 23-year-old Sasaki available, but they waited until just before the posting period ended.
Since Sasaki is 23 years old, MLB considers him an international amateur, so he can only sign a minor league contract. This contract will be subject to the international signing bonus pools, which are usually set for 16-year-old Latin American players.
The 2024 signing period ends on Sunday, and the 2025 period will start on January 15. Team pools for 2024 range from $7,555,500 to $5,146,200.
Teams can trade for extra pool money in $250,000 increments starting January 15, but they are limited to adding up to 60% of their initial amount.
“I feel like the organization is in a really good place with Sasaki,” said San Diego manager Mike Schildt.
He mentioned how general manager A.J. Preller had learned Japanese and helped recruit pitcher Yu Darvish before the 2021 season, and Hideo Nomo, who worked for the Padres as an adviser.
“It’s a chance for him to come in and create a legacy for himself to help win the first World Series,” Schildt added. “We got all these different things that are in our court that allow us to have a real competitive opportunity to get him to be a Padre.”
Chiba will receive a posting fee from the MLB team that signs Sasaki. The fee will be 25% of the signing bonus.
When Shohei Ohtani agreed to join the Los Angeles Angels in December 2016 at age 23, he received a $2,315,000 signing bonus. Ohtani had salaries of $545,000, $650,000, and $259,259 (due to the pandemic-shortened 2020 season) during his first three years, earning $3 million, $5.5 million, and $30 million in his three years of arbitration eligibility. He then signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 2024 season.
Sasaki, represented by Joel Wolfe of Wasserman Media Group, is expected to be one of the top pitchers on the market. He went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 games this year and struck out 129 batters in 111 innings.
Sasaki helped Japan win the 2023 World Baseball Classic. His fastball has been clocked at 102.5 mph, and he has a 29-15 career record with a 2.10 ERA over four injury-shortened seasons with the Marines.
“I’ve gotten a chance to watch him a little bit, bits and pieces,” said Arizona manager Torey Lovullo. “I was telling somebody, yeah, it’s a lot of fastball. It’s a swing-and-miss split. He’s going to be a really good starter here immediately. I’ve been very impressed by what I’ve seen so far.”
Sasaki pitched a perfect game against the Orix Buffaloes in April 2022, striking out 13 batters in a row and finishing with 19 total strikeouts.
“Since I joined the team, the team has been listening to my thoughts about my future MLB challenge, and I am very grateful to the team for officially allowing me to post,” Sasaki said in a November 9 statement shared by the Marines on X.
“There were many things that did not go well during my five years with the Marines, but I was able to get to this point by concentrating only on baseball, with the support of my teammates, staff, front office, and fans.
I will do my best to work my way up from my minor contract to become the best player in the world, so that I will have no regrets in my one and only baseball career and live up to the expectations of everyone who has supported me.”
Teams entering the international signing period with $7,555,500 available for each include the Athletics, Cincinnati, Detroit, Miami, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Seattle, and Tampa Bay.
Arizona, Baltimore, Cleveland, Colorado, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh have $6,908,600 each, followed by Atlanta, Boston, the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, the Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets and Yankees, Philadelphia, San Diego, Texas, Toronto, and Washington, with $6,261,600.
Houston and St. Louis each have $5,646,200, and the Dodgers and San Francisco have $5,146,200.
