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After meeting in the U.S. with representatives from MLB teams, Roki Sasaki has returned to Japan to decide his next move, the star pitcher’s representative said Monday night.
On a Zoom call with reporters, agent Joel Wolfe said Sasaki’s likely next step will be to narrow his list of suitors and possibly visit one or two cities ahead of the signing period for international free agents, which begins on Jan. 15.
The Mets and Yankees were among the teams to meet with the 23-year-old Sasaki during his visit to the U.S., according to sources, but Wolfe declined to name any teams or even provide a number.
As a player under 25 years old, Sasaki is ineligible for a major league contract and can only be signed using a team’s international bonus pool.
Such was the case when Shohei Ohtani arrived to MLB, signing with the Angels before the 2018 season for $2.31 million in international bonus pool money.
Sasaki, who throws 100-mph heat and complements it with a splitter, studied presentations from 20 teams, according to Wolfe, before choosing with whom he wanted to meet.
The industry perception is the Dodgers and Padres are the front-runners for Sasaki.
“He is a guy that wants to be great,” Wolfe said. “He is not a guy who is coming here just to be rich or get a huge contract.”
To ensure every suitor with which he met was on a “level playing field,” Wolfe said all the meetings with teams occurred in his offices and were limited to two hours or less with no other players in attendance.
Sasaki also gave each team with which he met a “homework assignment,” according to Wolfe.
“Every team got that very same assignment, and it enabled them to show how they can analyze and communicate information with him,” Wolfe said. “It really showed where he was coming from in analyzing and creating his selection criteria in looking at different teams.”
Sasaki, who was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball before the start of the Winter Meetings, convened with Yankees and Mets officials on the same day earlier this month, according to sources.
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns traveled to Japan in September to watch Sasaki pitch, as a show of respect to the right-hander.
Stearns later said the Mets would give it their “best shot” to sign Sasaki.
The Mets have a total international bonus pool of $6.2 million for 2025. Of that amount, $5 million is committed to highly regarded shortstop Elian Pena, a 16-year-old shortstop who is eligible to sign on Jan. 15.
The Yankees also have a total international bonus pool of $6.2 million for 2025.
Wolfe previously indicated he’s conveyed to Sasaki the importance of looking beyond the dollar figures because the ceilings and floors for offers will be so close and the long term of his career is where he will earn his money.
Sasaki would be a nice luxury for a Mets rotation that next season will feature Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, Clay Holmes and David Peterson, with names such as Paul Blackburn, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning as possibilities for the sixth spot, which figures to be utilized frequently.
The six-man rotation will allow extra rest for Senga, who thrived in his rookie season with added days between starts.
The Yankees have Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Luis Gil and Carlos Rodon for their rotation, with Clarke Schmidt and Marcus Stroman as back-end options.
Both New York teams heavily pursued Yoshinobu Yamamoto (another Wolfe client) last winter.
Yamamoto (then 25 years old) ultimately signed a 12-year contract worth $325 million with the Dodgers, a record for a pitcher in free agency.
The Dodgers also paid a posting fee of $50.6 million to the Orix Buffaloes.
If Sasaki signs with the Dodgers, it would give the defending World Series champions another high-caliber arm for a rotation that already might rate as MLB’s best.
Ohtani, Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow already figure into that rotation, with Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin and Gavin Stone among the other names in that mix.
