Right-handed pitcher and free agent Roki Sasaki plans to sign with the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers or San Diego Padres, possibly within the next week, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Sasaki met with the Jays Thursday and Friday in Toronto, before visiting San Diego over the weekend.
The Dodgers are once again among the favorites in negotiations after winning the World Series. They have already hired two former teammates of Sasaki with the Japanese Samurai, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. On the other hand, the Padres also have an advantage in Yu Darvish, who would be a role model and mentor for him. They attended a full Samurai training camp together.
The Texas Rangers have been informed that they are no longer in the running, as have the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants.
Sasaki, a 23-year-old Japanese starter who has been on the radar of MLB teams for years, can sign terms with a team starting Wednesday, when the new international signing period opens. His assignment period ends on January 23, so it is likely that he will make his decision between these two dates. As he is not over 25 years old, he will only be able to sign a minor league contract in addition to a signing bonus which would be capped at just under $8 million.
Sasaki went 10-5 last season with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball, posting a 2.35 ERA and striking out 129 in 111 innings of work.
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