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Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Japanese star pitcher Roki Sasaki is coming to MLB. Could the Orioles sign him?


DALLAS — The best available player this offseason signed for $765 million. The second best can’t sign for more than $7.6 million.

Roki Sasaki, a flamethrowing pitcher from Japan, has been posted to MLB teams and can be signed beginning Tuesday. Sasaki is only 23 years old and put up eye-popping numbers in Japan, posting a 2.02 ERA and 32.4% strikeout rate over the past four seasons.

As an international amateur free agent because of his age, Sasaki is subject to the same rules as the youngsters signed from Latin America and can be signed through 5 p.m. on Jan. 23. MLB teams have international bonus pools between $5.1 to $7.5 million for their 2025 class. However, clubs can add up to 60% by acquiring other teams’ bonus pool money. The posting system is how players from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball can join MLB.

This creates an interesting dynamic that gives all 30 MLB teams, including the Orioles, the financial ability to sign Sasaki — the opposite of the Juan Soto sweepstakes, which ended Sunday with the New York Mets giving him a $765 million contract.

Koby Perez, Baltimore’s vice president of international scouting and operations, said the Orioles will do their “due diligence” with Sasaki, who sports a fastball that reaches triple digits, a devastating splitter and a sharp slider.

“He’s a talent that anybody would want,” Perez said on Monday at the winter meetings.

The Orioles have a $6.9 million international bonus pool this year, but money won’t be the deciding factor. Sasaki will pick the team he sees as the best fit for his future and likely a place he can win.

Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias doesn’t comment on specific free agents, but he described what his pitch would be to a player like Sasaki.

“Winning team. Great defense, young, athletic defense. Great fan base. Great ballpark,” Elias said in the Orioles’ suite at the Hilton Anatole Hotel. “We’ve got an exciting window ahead of us, I believe, with this group of players and with our ownership group and the people we have running the organization. We have good pitching development, and we use the best technology and the best resources to keep our players healthy and make them better.

“I think it’s as good of an organization as any to develop yourself but also have a great chance to win. You’re also in the big stage in the American League East. There’s something exciting about that, something special about the American League East.”

Joel Wolfe, agent for Japanese player Roki Sasaki speaks to reporters at the Major League Baseball winter meetings in Dallas, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Joel Wolfe, agent for Japanese player Roki Sasaki, speaks to reporters at the MLB winter meetings in Dallas on Tuesday. (Tony Gutierrez/AP)

The Orioles aren’t seen as a likely landing spot for Sasaki. The Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees and Mets are believed to be the front-runners to add the fireballer to their rotation. But it’s ultimately up to Sasaki to decide where he wants to go.

Sasaki, a 6-foot-2 right-hander, debuted in NPB for the Chiba Lotte Marines at 19 years old and immediately displayed his immense talent. By 2022, he was already one of Japan’s best pitchers, making it known it was just a matter of time until he would join MLB. He posted a 0.796 WHIP with 173 strikeouts across 129 1/3 innings that year and has been similarly dominant since.

By requesting to be posted early, Sasaki will take a similar path as Shohei Ohtani, who signed for $2.3 million with the Los Angeles Angels ahead of the 2018 season. The Angels gained six years of control for Ohtani since the contracts for international amateur free agents are technically minor league deals.

Had Sasaki waited two years, he could have received a nine-figure contract similar to the 12-year, $325 million contract Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason. Players who are at least 25 years old with six years played in a foreign league can sign major league contracts when posted, but Sasaki preferred to reach MLB two years sooner.

Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.

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