Red Sox are reportedly ‘very serious’ about pursuing pitching phenom Roki Sasaki
"The main selling point might be the history of Japanese pitchers having success and positive experiences playing in Boston."
The Red Sox have already bolstered their starting rotation this offseason by trading for Chicago White Sox southpaw Garrett Crochet.
But could Boston also be in the running for one of the top young pitchers in baseball in Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki?
The 22-year-old righty was posted by his Japanese team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, earlier this month — making him free to sign with an MLB club this winter.
Even though ESPN’s Jeff Passan noted weeks ago that the Los Angeles Dodgers are the frontrunners for Sasaki’s services, MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo reported Wednesday that the Red Sox might make the most sizable push among suitors on the East Coast.
“In the AL, the Red Sox are very serious about making a pitch to the Sasaki team,” Mayo wrote. “The main selling point might be the history of Japanese pitchers having success and positive experiences playing in Boston: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Uehara and Junichi Tazawa.
“They have an impressive pitching development program and it certainly doesn’t hurt when the general manager, Craig Breslow, can speak directly to it (as opposed to just handing it off to “the experts”). Breslow also personally scouted Sasaki for one of his starts in Japan in September.”
Not only does Sasaki’s pitch mix and velocity already make him a legitimate ace candidate at baseball’s highest level, but he’d also be available at a fraction of what free-agent targets like Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, and Blake Snell will command.
Because Sasaki is an “international amateur” rather than an unrestricted free agent, whichever team eventually signs him will ink him to a cheaper, minor-league deal sweetened with a signing bonus.
For example, Shohei Ohtani signed a minor-league deal with the Angels in December 2017 that featured a cost-controlled structure along with a $2.3 million signing bonus. During Ohtani’s six seasons with the Angels, he commanded salaries of $545,000, $650,000, $259,259 (due to COVID), $3 million, $5.5 million and $30 million.
But even Mayo noted that the Red Sox are not considered frontrunners for Sasaki. In a poll involving executives for all 30 MLB teams, 11 teams tabbed the Dodgers as the franchise that will sign Sasaki, while seven others selected the San Diego Padres.
Sasaki went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA last season in Japan, striking out 129 while walking 32 over 111 innings of work. Over his four seasons in NPB, Sasaki is 29-15 with a 2.10 ERA and 505 strikeouts over 394.2 innings.
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