Joel Wolfe, Roki Sasaki’s agent, invited all 30 MLB teams to submit presentations for the pitcher through a letter sent to each organization after his client was posted on Dec. 10.
Twenty teams took up the offer, and several met with Wolfe and Sasaki in Los Angeles.
Per the pitcher’s request, no current players were present at the meetings, meaning any recruiting pitch from Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers Shohei Ohtani or Yoshinobu Yamamoto, for example, was not done face-to-face. The same can be said about San Diego Padres ace Yu Darvish.
“One of the criteria for the meetings is that Roki asked that no players were to attend,” Wolfe said this week. “There were a couple of teams that had a video from one or two players, but for the most part, it was the general manager, possibly an assistant GM, the manager, the pitching coach, and people from the biomechanics, performance, and training staff.”
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Sasaki also requested not to travel to any team’s stadium or city.
During a media conference call, Wolfe shared limited details, stating only that Sasaki had met with “a select few teams” in recent weeks. Sasaki is expected to make his decision sometime between Jan. 15, when the international signing period opens, and Jan. 23, when his posting window closes.
“This is a very unique process and a very unique player,” Wolfe said.
According to Wolfe, Sasaki is unlikely to make his choice immediately after the signing period opens.
“He is definitely driving the ship and calling the shots,” Wolfe said.
At 23, Sasaki is considered an international amateur under MLB rules, which limits teams to offering him a minor league contract using their international bonus pool money, typically between $5 million and $7 million.
The Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league officially posted Sasaki on Dec. 10. Had Sasaki waited two more years to move to MLB, he could have sparked a bidding war similar to the one that resulted in Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s record 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers last winter.
Reports have suggested that the Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, and San Francisco Giants were among the teams granted initial meetings with Sasaki, although his representatives have not confirmed this.
