As the Roki Sasaki’s free agent process approaches its next phase, the chance of the Japanese phenom landing in Boston remains slim.
Meeting with reporters on a Zoom webinar Monday night, Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, hinted that Sasaki was more than likely to sign with a club that has already been granted an in-person meeting. As of Monday afternoon, the Red Sox had still not been invited to be part of that group.
“Without getting too specific into the details of any individual pursuit, we had not been granted a meeting earlier but hope to stay involved and stay engaged,” said Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow on an earlier Zoom call. “Obviously, we would welcome the chance to present why we think Boston could be a great environment.”
The Red Sox were one of around 20 teams to submit presentations to Sasaki and his representatives at Wasserman when his posting period opened earlier this month. But so far, that has been the extent of their pursuit despite significant organizational interest that led to Breslow scouting Sasaki in person in Japan during the 2024 season.
“We pitched why we feel like Boston is a great environment for NPB pitchers to come over,” Breslow said. “We can speak to our track record of success. But ultimately, it’s not our decision. We’ll obviously be ready and available to pitch the organization if we get that opportunity.”
At least teams — the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, Cubs, Rangers, Giants and Padres — are known to have been granted meetings with Sasaki, Wolfe and other members of Sasaki’s camp in southern California to this point. It’s possible others have been involved, too. Wolfe kept the door open for one or two more initial meetings before Sasaki narrows the field. But it seems like teams that have not sat down with them to this point face quite the uphill climb to land him.
“We met with a set few number of teams. and then he went back to Japan. He’s back there now and meeting with his family and his team of people and deciding what the next steps are,” Wolfe said. “The next steps will be something in the neighborhood of possibly meeting with one or two additional teams or narrowing the field, which I think may be more likely. And whether or not he wants to visit one or two cities as he tries to finalize the decision-making process.”
The Red Sox are not alone among big-market teams who have been left at the altar to this point. The Phillies, according to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, have also requested a meeting but not had it granted.
Wolfe was impressed with the widespread amount of interest in Sasaki, a 23-year-old righty who has pitched to a 2.02 ERA in 414⅔ innings. This past season, he flashed a 2.35 ERA in 111 innings while striking out 129 batters and walking just 32. Sasaki features a fastball that averaged 97.1 mph last year, plus a splitter and slider that are considered above-average pitches. He profiles as a top-of-the-rotation arm across the board.
“Upon the opening of the posting process, a letter went out from me to all the teams inviting everyone in baseball, and every team in baseball to send any type of information that they wanted that Roki would review. Then, he would decide which and how many teams he would have in person meetings with,” Wolfe said.
“Twenty teams, by our last count, submitted information. While the quality and the uniqueness varied, it was really something to see the level of preparation in the videos. It was like the Roki Film Festival.”
Sasaki, who is subject to bonus limits as an international free agent under the age of 25, will choose his team between January 15-23.
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