Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki will reportedly be posted during winter meetings
Sasaki has drawn interest from plenty of MLB teams, including the Red Sox.
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A star pitcher from Japan is reportedly set to be posted this week, and the Red Sox have shown interest in him.
Roki Sasaki is 22 years old and is the latest ace pitcher to make the jump from Japan to the MLB. He owns a 2.35 ERA in 2024 as well as an elite arsenal of pitches, including a 100+ mile per hour fastball. He is expected to be posted during the MLB’s winter meetings this week, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Sasaki is an intriguing and valuable young prospect due to his “international amateur” status. That rule — applied to international professionals age 25 or younger with fewer than six years of experience — will allow MLB clubs to sign Sasaki for far less than his true value would be in the open market of free agency.
While Boston was among the many teams to show some level of interest in Sasaki, Passan did not note the Red Sox among the favorite contenders to land the young star.
Passan listed the Dodgers as favorites for Sasaki, given their Japanese ties with Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Other clubs listed by Passan included the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers, and San Fransisco Giants.
Despite not being favorites, at least one MLB analyst believes Red Sox would make sense for Sasaki. Jim Bowden reported in November that Boston would be a “solid foundation” for Sasaki thanks to pitching coach Andrew Bailey, manager Alex Cora, and minority owner Theo Epstein.
And, Passan also noted that when Ohtani was posted, the Los Angeles Angels were not considered favorites to land the two-way star. So, precedent still exists for Boston to land Sasaki even without being considered favorites by one of baseball’s most reliable reporters.
Once Sasaki is officially posted, he will have 45 days to sign with a team.
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