In Might, Chelsea James of The Washington Put up reported that groups anticipated Nippon Skilled Baseball star Roki Sasaki to be posted this offseason. These expectations got here to fruition on Saturday.
The Chiba Lotte Marines introduced on X that Sasaki will likely be posted this offseason. ESPN’s Jeff Passan famous that it’s unknown when Sasaki will likely be made obtainable earlier than Dec. 15, the following worldwide signing interval. The signing swimming pools would reset for 2025, so the Marines ought to push that signing window as late as doable.
The sentiment round baseball is that the Dodgers are the prohibitive favourite to land Sasaki. USA Right this moment’s Bob Nightengale reported that whereas all 30 groups will try and signal Sasaki, he is anticipated to signal with Los Angeles. The Dodgers have loads of intrigue with two-way star Shohei Ohtani, pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and being recent off of a World Collection title.
L.A. is just not the one group that needs to be thought-about a favourite. The Padres are the house of pitcher Yu Darvish, who signed a six-year, $108 million extension to maintain him in San Diego via 2028. He’s Sasaki’s mentor, which Passan famous when he listed doable locations for the phenom. Darvish additionally helped Sasaki develop his slider, turning it into one other weapon in his arsenal.