Where will Sasaki sign? 6 intriguing teams for potential ace
Because it might take a record-breaking contract to reel in Juan Soto, the top free agent available this offseason naturally has a somewhat limited market of suitors.
Roki Sasaki, though? That¡¯s a much different story.
Sasaki is expected to be posted by his NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, by Dec. 15. Since he is under 25 years old, Sasaki is subject to international bonus pool restrictions (as Shohei Ohtani was in 2017). That means all 30 teams can bid on the 23-year-old right-hander, especially given that he apparently intends to sign after Jan. 15, thereby making him part of the 2025 international amateur signing class.
A potential ace still in his early 20s would fit on any roster, but there are some destinations -- aside from the most obvious -- that stand out as more intriguing than others. These aren¡¯t necessarily the most likely places for Sasaki to land, but rather where the storylines would certainly be intriguing.
Here is one such team per division, picked by a group of MLB.com writers.
AL East: Red Sox
The deck is stacked against the AL East if Sasaki indeed prefers to sign with a West Coast club as some have reported. That said, there are believed to be some East Coast teams in the mix, including the reigning AL champion Yankees -- but what about Boston?
Since Sasaki won't be signing a massive deal along the lines of Yoshinobu Yamamoto's $325 million contract with the Dodgers last offseason, he could look to offset some of that sizable gap with endorsement deals, as mentioned by The Athletic's Jim Bowden.
In New York, Sasaki would be battling not only Yankees superstar Aaron Judge -- and possibly Juan Soto, pending his free agent decision -- but also the crosstown rival Mets and their superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor for the spotlight. (Not to mention the Knicks, Jets and Giants, among other New York sports teams.)
But Boston presents a major market -- and plenty of opportunity. The Red Sox have made just one postseason appearance in the past six seasons, but they're coming off a third-place finish after back-to-back last-place seasons in the East. With superstar Rafael Devers being joined by blossoming stars Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu in the lineup, the Sox could certainly use a top-tier starter to anchor a young rotation that showed flashes last season with Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford and Brayan Bello.
Boston is reportedly interested in signing at least one pitcher from the free-agent trio of Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and Blake Snell ¨C but pairing one of those guys with Sasaki wouldn¡¯t be a bad contingency. -- Paul Casella
AL Central: Tigers
Detroit just reached the postseason for the first time in a decade with one of the youngest rosters in the Majors. With the Tigers' competitive window just now opening, they can¡¯t rest on that success. Now is the time to attack in free agency.
It sounds as if president of baseball operations Scott Harris is ready to be aggressive this winter, and what better way to signal that you mean business than by landing one of the most talented young pitchers available?
Pairing Sasaki with reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal might give Detroit the best righty-lefty combination of any rotation. Add in Jackson Jobe, who debuted in September and is the No. 5 prospect in MLB, and suddenly the Tigers have what could be a dominant trio leading their staff for many years to come -- assuming they extend their decorated ace.
Is Sasaki the right fit for a roster that has one pitcher in his 30s (Sasaki¡¯s fellow countryman, Kenta Maeda)? Of course! Sasaki's immense talent fits any roster, but in Detroit, he would join a team on the rise, band together with the best pitcher in the AL and accelerate the Tigers¡¯ trek to the top of their division. -- Brian Murphy
AL West: Mariners
While it¡¯s true that the Mariners could use an upgrade or two in their lineup (their .224 team batting average ranked 29th in the Majors last season), the addition of Sasaki could turn an already formidable Seattle starting rotation into a true monster.
A Sasaki-Mariners fit makes sense on multiple fronts. Not only would his addition bolster a starting staff that already features Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert and George Kirby -- just to name three -- but the franchise boasts a rich history of Japanese players headlined by Ichiro Suzuki, who has a great chance to be elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year on the BBWAA ballot.
From Ichiro to Kazuhiro Sasaki to Hisashi Iwakuma, the Mariners have featured many great Japanese players over the years. Adding Roki Sasaki to that tradition could help cement a rotation that led MLB with a 3.38 ERA last season as the best in baseball. -- Manny Randhawa
NL East: Nationals
Washington has posted five straight losing seasons since its 2019 World Series title, but there¡¯s light at the end of the tunnel for the rebuilding club. While the Nationals went 71-91 for a second consecutive year in 2024, they saw glimpses of a brighter future as their core started to come together.
The Nats are especially loaded on the position-player front, highlighted by the quartet of CJ Abrams, James Wood, Luis Garc¨ªa Jr. and Dylan Crews (MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 1 prospect). None of those players is older than 24. Washington also has some promising arms, including MacKenzie Gore, DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker.
Now, imagine adding Sasaki to that nucleus. The flamethrowing righty has the potential to be the bona fide ace the team is missing, and at 23 years old, he aligns more closely with the Nationals¡¯ next championship window than the high-priced veteran pitchers available on the free-agent market this year. -- Thomas Harrigan
NL Central: Pirates
Roki Sasaki and Paul Skenes. Enough said.
Sasaki and Skenes would make the Pirates THE must-watch rotation in baseball. They're two of the most hyped young pitchers ever. Sasaki is 23. Skenes is 22. They're going to be lighting up the Major Leagues for years to come -- so imagine them doing it together.
Skenes and Sasaki in the same rotation could be the pitching equivalent of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto in the same lineup with the Yankees or Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman with the Dodgers -- except if all of those players had started their careers together and risen to superstardom simultaneously.
Skenes and Sasaki both have 100-plus mph fastballs. They both have a signature secondary pitch -- Skenes' splinker, Sasaki's splitter -- that is among the nastiest pitches in the world. They might be dueling for the title of "best pitcher in baseball" for the next decade. Why not do it as teammates? -- David Adler
NL West: Padres
It won¡¯t surprise anyone if Sasaki goes to the Dodgers, and it would be fun to see him join forces with Ohtani and Yamamoto, his teammates on the World Baseball Classic championship-winning Samurai Japan squad in 2023. That would give the defending World Series champion Dodgers three Japanese stars in the rotation, when healthy.
But ¡ purely from the standpoint of baseball theater, wouldn¡¯t it be more fun to see Sasaki pair with Yu Darvish and go up against Ohtani and Yamamoto? (Not to mention pitch against Betts, Freeman, Ohtani and the rest of the Dodgers¡¯ machine.) That would be the ultimate example of trying to be the best by beating the best, all while giving San Diego a stronger chance of keeping up with its neighbor to the north.
Really, the storylines write themselves here. The Dodgers-Padres rivalry stands as one of the hottest in baseball right now, with the two teams battling each other all season in the NL West and, frequently in recent years, in October. Both have dealt the other a heartbreaking NLDS loss in the past three seasons. Both have stars aplenty. Now, imagine Sasaki in that mix, potentially dueling both Ohtani the hitter and Ohtani the pitcher in the same game. It doesn¡¯t get much better than that. -- Andrew Simon