We heard on Monday that the Seattle Mariners are pursuing free agent pitcher Roki Sasaki this winter. It still seems like a long shot that Sasaki would come to Seattle, and he’s long been rumored to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Diego Padres, but M’s fans were given a glimmer of hope on Tuesday because of comments made by Joel Wolfe, Sasaki’s agent.
Wolfe said he hasn’t really spoken to Sasaki about market size but he did indicate that a smaller market could be better for Sasaki because of the reduced media scrutiny.
First and foremost, Seattle isn’t a “small” media market, but the media pressure isn’t as great as in a place like Los Angeles, New York, or Boston. Usually, we’d take this as a negotiating ploy to get smaller-market teams in the bidding so that the price gets driven up on big-market teams, but that doesn’t really apply here since Sasaki’s contract is bound by international signing bonus money.
Therefore, there could be a degree of truth to this, and that should give the Mariners slightly more optimism that they can sign him. In addition to market size and media pressure, the M’s can also tout their pitching development over the last several years, the success of Japanese players in Seattle and the ability to insulate Sasaki through a potential six-man rotation.
Sasaki has officially been posted for major league teams and will start meeting with them next week, though he’s not expected to sign until mid-January.