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In the coming days or weeks, Major League teams will jump out of the starting blocks in their pursuit of highly touted Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki. The Padres are expected to be one of the leading suitors.

The race to sign the 23-year-old right-hander likely will last mere weeks once he is posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines, his team in Nippon Professional Baseball. San Diego's preparations for the courtship, however, are years in the making.

A.J. Preller, Padres president of baseball operations and general manager, plays it close to the vest when he has a player in mind for a trade or signing. Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts weren¡¯t connected to the Friars virtually until the moment they were being sized for their uniforms.

But Sasaki? It¡¯s no secret the Padres want him in their rotation.

Preller revealed it months ago while speaking from the heart, recounting his conversations with owner Peter Seidler. It has been a year to the day since Seidler passed away, and Preller is every bit as determined to ¡°win for that man,¡± as he said. Preller¡¯s moves in the past year resulted in a 93-win season and a postseason visit. Sasaki could be a key piece to get the Padres to Seidler¡¯s ultimate goal of a championship and a parade for San Diego.

¡°I loved my daily conversations with Peter,¡± Preller said in March during the public celebration of life. ¡°I was lucky enough to get on the phone with him and talk about baseball and life. Every couple of weeks, we got the chance to sit down in person ¡­ a state-of-the-union type of address.

¡°He loved to ask about our farm system, our players, our big league team [and] pick my brain, our group¡¯s brain, about what we saw. He especially loved to talk about the future, about players like Ethan Salas or guys down the road like a Roki Sasaki. He got really jazzed up about the pursuit of other excellent players to add to the Padres family.¡±

Even with the Padres apparently headed toward a second consecutive offseason of belt-tightening, they can be a player for Sasaki. Because he is younger than 25 years old, he will be subject to the signing rules of an international amateur free agent. If he is posted by Dec. 2, teams can use only their 2024 signing pools. San Diego has just $2,200 available after going nearly all-in with shortstop Leodalis De Vries in January. If Sasaki is posted after Dec. 2, the Padres can tap into their '25 international pool of $6,261,600.

Given that Sasaki did not wait to move to the Majors until he could maximize his contract with a bidding war, it¡¯s a reasonable assumption that his priorities lie elsewhere. San Diego's sales pitch certainly would include the front office¡¯s experience with Japanese players -- Preller learned to speak Japanese, and Hideo Nomo is one of his advisers -- and the presence of Yu Darvish, who helped Sasaki develop his slider.

Don¡¯t expect Preller and the Padres to reveal much, if anything, about their talks with Sasaki. But here¡¯s the skinny from MLB.com and MLB Pipeline about the pitcher and the process:

? How good is Sasaki? "As good as advertised."
? Who are the favorites to land him?
? FAQ: How will the posting system work?
? Where would Sasaki rank among the Top 100 prospects?