Three teams that reportedly met with the representatives for Roki Sasaki in person have now been told they will not be signing the talented free agent pitcher from Japan.
According to multiple reports Monday, the New York Yankees and New York Mets joined the San Francisco Giants among the teams Sasaki has eliminated from consideration. Jack Curry of the YES Network was the first to report the bad news for the Yankees on Twitter/X:
Francys Romero of beisbolfr.com and Will Sammon of The Athletic were first to note the Mets were out:
Earlier Monday, Giants general manager Zack Minasian told reporters Sasaki will not be signing in San Francisco.
Sasaki, 23, is the top international amateur in the 2025 signing period, which begins Wednesday.
When he was 20, Sasaki threw a 19-strikeout perfect game for the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2022. In his next start, he threw eight more perfect innings in a row. In the 2023 World Baseball Classic, his fastball sat 100 mph.
Last season, Sasaki went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 starts for Chiba Lotte, with 129 strikeouts in 111 innings. The Marines formally posted him in December.
Teams are ineligible to sign Sasaki before Wednesday under MLB’s signing rules for international amateurs. Sasaki’s 45-day window to meet with major league teams expires in 10 days, effectively making Jan. 23 his deadline to agree to a contract.
Earlier Monday, Ken Rosenthal and Andy McCullough of The Athletic reported the Toronto Blue Jays met with Sasaki in Canada. The Jays join the Dodgers, Padres, Cubs, and Rangers as the reported finalists to sign him.
Because he is limited to signing for the major league minimum salary in addition to a signing bonus — currently in the $5-7 million range — Sasaki is available to all 30 MLB teams at a salary they can afford. Not all were granted in-person meetings, however, and it stands to reason that any team granted an audience with the pitcher generated some mutual interest in their initial presentation.
For weeks, the “news” around Sasaki’s free agency consisted of rumored presentations, meetings, and rumblings of unrequited love among major league executives. Monday’s news is relatively seismic and suggests Sasaki is actively narrowing his list of possible destinations as his deadline nears.
As MLB Newtork’s Jon Morosi said Monday: “This is very likely the week when we will learn where Roki Sasaki will pitch in Major League Baseball.”