In two days, Roki Sasaki will be eligible to sign a contract. This will be on the sidelines of the opening period for international free agents.
We don’t know exactly who he will sign with. There are several signs pointing to the Dodgers right now, but it’s hard to know exactly.
He will have to sign between January 15 and 23 and everyone can’t wait to know what he will decide. After all, there are two groups of players who have to wait after Sasaki.
The first is the other international hopefuls. After all, every team has a budget and Sasaki will undoubtedly be entitled to 100% of his new team’s international budget.
Result? The team that signs him will break promises with other international players in order to give their entire budget to Sasaki. These are players who expected to have money that would have changed their lives who will find themselves with nothing.
Of course, the club could just decide to sign them all in a year… but that can change quickly, in the world of sport.
And that’s why right now, there are many people in the Dominican Republic and in South American countries who don’t think it’s fair to see Sasaki being included in the same international free agent process as of the kids 15 or 16 years old.
It’s a shame for them… and the future prospects of many teams are eager to know if Sasaki will come and take their money. Recall that this is like this because Sasaki, unlike Yoshinobu Yamamoto, is still too young for complete autonomy.
But there are also major league baseball free agents who must be eager to see Sasaki sign.
Several starting pitchers, for example, are undoubtedly at the mercy of the Japanese’s decision. And once he has chosen his club, other teams will pivot elsewhere.
But what about the free agents, all positions, who received a qualifying offer earlier this winter? After all, signing a free agent who has received a qualifying offer means you’re losing money for your pool of international players, of which Sasaki is a part…
Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, Anthony Santander and Nick Pivetta (who is arguably the guy most affected by his qualifying offer) are the four remaining free agents who are attached to a qualifying offer.
Maybe signing Sasaki won’t unlock everything in the public eye. However, it’s clear that it will shake things up behind the scenes… and a lot of people must be looking forward to it.
So yes, his team choice will be important on many levels.
