Major League Baseball’s rules specifically for players leaving the Japanese league under the age of 25 make it a bargain for all teams that the Chiba Lotte Marines have decided to begin the process of making Sasaki available, because at 23 years old he can only be subject to the international bonus pool and will have to sign a Minor League contract, for a maximum of $7.6 million.
Los Angeles Dodgers have two Japanese stars on their roster in Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and were initially placed as favorites, but negotiations may not be so straightforward. Also in the running are the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and New York Yankees.
For Jim Allen, a baseball columnist for the Daily Yomiuri, “the Dodgers are not assured of signing Roki Sasaki”, as due to the circumstances in which he arrives in MLB, a source close to the Japanese pitcher revealed that his best option will be to choose a small market team that has a solid development structure.
On the website Essentially Sports, an American League executive pointed out that in order to keep Sasaki, teams will have to get creative, as in this case dollars take a back seat: “Teams will have to sell themselves, not just sign the biggest check. It may not yet be a level playing field because not every team will have what he’s looking for, but the size of their payroll is not necessarily that important.”
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