Adjust your New Year’s resolutions accordingly
Roki Sasaki, the highly-coveted Japanese ace starting pitcher, is expected to be posted by Chiba Lotte, his Nippon Professional Baseball team, during MLB’s winter meetings this coming week in Dallas, per multiple reports, which will start the 45-day window that teams have to sign the 23-year-old right-hander.
Jeff Passan at ESPN was first to report the timing of Sasaki’s posting, which was confirmed by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and others.
Because Sasaki isn’t yet 25 years old, he isn’t a full free agent like Yoshinobu Yamamoto was last offseason. Sasaki will be subject to international bonus pools, meaning he’ll sign a minor league contract with a bonus of likely under $10 million, a fraction of the nine-digit contract he’d surely sign if on the open market.
All teams are still eligible to sign Sasaki, and the difference between the teams with the lowest available bonus pool (like the Dodgers at $5.1 million) and the highest bonus pool (the Rays, Mariners, and others at $7.5 million, plus potentially up to 60 percent more if they trade for more international bonus pool money) is a relative pittance compared to what Sasaki is giving up by coming stateside two years early.
It’s been previously reported that Sasaki will likely sign during the 2025 international signing period, which begins January 15, and that’s still expected to be the case. Though by posting this coming week, teams will have 45 days in which to convince him to sign, and it is still at least technically possible (though unlikely) Sasaki could sign before the 2024 international signing period ends on December 15. The Dodgers have $2.5 million remaining in their bonus pool for this period, the most of any MLB team.
For what it’s worth, Passan lists the Dodgers, Padres, Cubs, Rangers, Mets, and Giants among the favorites to sign Sasaki.