Cubs shift focus after Sasaki pursuit

CHICAGO -- The Dodgers were deemed a favorite to land star international prospect Roki Sasaki from the moment he was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball this offseason. On Friday, as Cubs Convention was just getting rolling in Chicago, the pitcher announced on Instagram that he had indeed picked Los Angeles.

The Cubs were among the final eight teams involved in the recruiting of the 23-year-old Japanese phenom, but were eliminated from the chase when Sasaki recently narrowed the field to the Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays. The Cubs felt they did all they could to convince the pitcher to come to the North Side.

“It was a fair process,” Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins said on Saturday at the Sheraton Grand Chicago. “We had a clean shot to say what we wanted to say to Roki and his representation. A lot of teams did. I think he heard everything that we wanted to say.

“I’d reiterate – I don’t know how much we’ve talked about this publicly – but the entire organization did such an unbelievable job in just putting our best foot forward. It stinks not to get him.”

Both president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and Hawkins have noted this weekend that the Cubs’ pursuit of rotation help is likely over this winter. Barring an unexpected development on that front, Chicago is focused more on adding to the bullpen and strengthening the bench.

As things stand, the Cubs have lefty Justin Steele (a contender for the National League Cy Young Award just two years ago), lefty Shota Imanaga (an All-Star who garnered Rookie of the Year and Cy Young consideration last year) and veteran Jameson Taillon (coming off one of the best seasons of his career) heading the starting staff.

The Cubs added lefty Matthew Boyd and righty Colin Rea to the mix in free agency this winter, and they still have right-hander Javier Assad in the fold. From there, pitchers Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks and Caleb Kilian offer rotation depth. Top pitching prospect Cade Horton (Pipeline’s No. 3 Cubs prospect and No. 42 on the Top 100) could impact the team in ‘25 as well.

“Every single year before the season starts,” Steele said, “I always say you can never have too much pitching, and it always shows every single year. I feel really good about the group of guys we have at the top and the guys underneath that are able to come in and pick us up when things hit the fan.”

As for the Cubs missing out on Sasaki?

“Obviously, any team across the league would be lucky and grateful to have him,” Steele said. “It’s tough. It would’ve been awesome to have him, but you kind of just have to move forward without him.”

Even if the Dodgers were considered heavy favorites to land Sasaki -- especially given the presence of Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on their roster -- the Cubs felt they had as good a shot as any team. During his tenure with the ballclub, Hoyer has prioritized making the Cubs a destination for Japanese players making the jump to the Majors.

A year ago, the Cubs signed Imanaga to a four-year, $53 million contract in free agency and he made an immediate impact in his sensational rookie season. Ahead of the ‘22 season, the Cubs signed outfielder Seiya Suzuki -- who is also represented by Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe -- via a five-year, $85 million deal.

Hoyer was among the Cubs personnel who scouted Sasaki in person in Japan and said the franchise dedicated “thousands of man hours” in the recruitment of the pitcher. The difference in this situation was Sasaki was subject to MLB’s international bonus pool regulations due to his age, as opposed to being up for grabs to the highest bidder.

The Cubs not only put together a presentation that was sent to Sasaki’s camp, but they were one of the teams to be granted an in-person interview with the young pitcher.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the way we presented,” Hoyer said. “But ultimately, you enter into that process, you know he can only choose one place to go. I’m honored that we made it into the eight teams that he met with. It’s disappointing we didn’t kind of get a rose.”

Hoyer added that the time and effort was “not wasted” in the Cubs’ pursuit.

“It was an enjoyable process,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell agreed. “I really thought we did an incredible presentation and a lot of effort went into it. And it made a lot of sense. He had a choice to make, and unfortunately, he chose somebody else.”