The finalists for Japanese star right-hander Roki Sasaki are the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays, sources tell ESPN. Sasaki will decide on his team by the closing of his posting window Jan. 23.
Report: Blue Jays named finalists to land Rōki Sasaki
Photo credit: © Sam Navarro - USA Today
Jan 13, 2025, 18:30 ESTUpdated: Jan 13, 2025, 18:29 EST
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Toronto Blue Jays are finalists for a top free agent.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Blue Jays, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, are finalists to sign Japanese pitcher Rōki Sasaki.
Leading up until recently, it didn’t look as if the Blue Jays were even favourites to land Sasaki, as their interest wasn’t noted until Monday. On Monday morning, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported that Sasaki visited Toronto, and things have just snowballed from there.
Sasaki is a tremendous pitcher and the fact that the Blue Jays are finalists is a good sign, even if the two other teams remain heavy favourites according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Since last season, it always seemed as if the Dodgers would get him, as they also have fellow Japanese superstars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Other teams who were interested were eliminated from the Sasaki sweepstakes Bachelor style, as the New York Yankees, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, and Chicago Cubs were all told they weren’t going to land the right-handed pitcher.
Without question, Sasaki is one of the best starting pitchers available in free agency this season, even before Max Fried and Corbin Burnes signed their contracts. Last season in Nippon Professional Baseball, Sasaki posted a 2.35 ERA in 111 innings pitched, with a 28.7 K% and a 7.1 BB%. The year prior, the 23-year-old had a 1.78 ERA in 91 innings pitched, with a 39.1 K% and a 4.9 BB%.
For his entire NPB career, Sasaki has a 2.10 ERA in 394.2 innings pitched, along with a 32.7 K% and a 5.7 BB%. He’d instantly become the team’s best starting pitcher and push Yariel Rodríguez to the bullpen.
Obviously, Sasaki ranked as MLB Pipeline’s top international prospect for the 2025 period. They grade his fastball and slider at 70, while his control sits at 60, his slider at 55, and his overall grade at 65. His fastball has reached as high as 102 mph (in the World Baseball Classic of all places) but averaged just under 97 mph in 2024. Still, Sasaki’s splitter is considered his best pitch, while his slider is above average.
It’s hard not to get your hopes up after the Jays swung and missed on both Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto the past two seasons. But maybe, just maybe, landing Sasaki is actually a possibility.
As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.
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