Japanese Pitcher Roki Sasaki Set to Be Posted to MLB Free Agency This Winter

After weeks of mystery and conflicting reports, the Chiba Lotte Marines have agreed to post 23-year-old starting pitcher Roki Sasaki to MLB free agency.

Mar 20, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Japan starting pitcher Roki Sasaki (14) delivers a pitch during the first inning against Mexico at LoanDepot Park. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Chiba Lotte Marines have agreed to post right-handed pitcher Roki Sasaki to MLB free agency, the team announced Saturday.

Sasaki, who turned 23 years old last week, immediately becomes one of the top arms on the market. Because the Japanese hurler is not yet 25 years old, however, he will be subject to international bonus pool restrictions and will not be able to sign for more than a few million dollars.

It is a similar situation to the one Shohei Ohtani found himself in when he left Nippon Professional Baseball in 2017, leading to his initial $2.3 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels. The alternative path is the one that Yoshinobu Yamamoto took last winter, when he inked a $325 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

That dilemma led to doubts of whether or not Sasaki would indeed make the move to MLB this winter. If he had waited two more years, he and the Marines could have cashed in on much bigger paydays.

Instead, Sasaki has been given the chance to fulfill his dream of playing in America in 2025.

"Since I joined the team, the team has been listening to my thoughts about my future challenge in the MLB, and I am very grateful to the team for officially allowing me to post now,” Sasaki said in a statement put out by the Marines. “There were many things that did not go well during my five years with the Marines, but I was always supported by my teammates, staff, front office, and fans, and was able to come this far by concentrating only on baseball. I will do my best to work my way up from my minor contract to become the best player in the world, so that I will have no regrets in my one and only baseball career and so that I can live up to the expectations of everyone who has supported me this time."

#佐々木朗希 投手について、ポスティングによる米国メジャー・リーグ・ベースボール(MLB)球団への移籍に向けた手続きを開始することにいたしましたので、お知らせします。

▼松本球団本部長コメント… pic.twitter.com/iwEjGoUS1C

— 千葉ロッテマリーンズ (@chibalotte) November 9, 2024

If Sasaki is posted prior to Dec. 15, he would be part of the 2024 international amateur class. His maximum signing bonus would more than double to over $7.0 million if he were posted after Dec. 15.

Sasaki will have a 45-day window to negotiate with MLB teams once he is officially posted, and the Dodgers have long been rumored to be first in line. ESPN's Jeff Passan reported that Sasaki going to Los Angeles is far from a done deal, though, and that the San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays could be among the long list of suitors.

The 2025 international amateur window doesn’t open until Jan. 15, so if Sasaki isn't posted before Dec. 15, no move could be made official until then.

Whatever deal Sasaki signs would technically be a minor league contract, although that will not restrict teams from adding the pitcher to their active big league roster.

Sasaki is 30-15 with a 2.02 ERA, 0.883 WHIP and 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings since turning pro in 2019. He also went 1-0 with a 3.52 ERA, 1.174 WHIP and 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, winning a Gold Medal with Japan while showing off his 102 mile-per-hour fastball.

The 6-foot-4 righty is already a two-time NPB All-Star, having pitched a perfect game and broken NPB's single-game strikeout record in 2022. While he suffered a torn oblique and dealt with right arm soreness this season, Sasaki still went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA, 1.036 WHIP and 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings across 18 starts.

Sasaki won’t be the only Japanese pitcher available to teams this offseason, either.

Tomoyuki Sugano is coming over to MLB after a successful 12-year career with the Yomiuri Giants. The Chunichi Dragons are posting Shinnosuke Ogasawara as well, and he has already drawn interest from the Angels, Mets, Cubs, Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants.

Their respective arrivals come in the wake of Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga signing with the Dodgers and Cubs, respectively, last offseason. Yamamoto and Imanaga both contended for NL Rookie of the Year and have high expectations for the future, only adding to the hype surrounding Sasaki.

Follow Fastball On SI on social media

Continue to follow our Fastball On SI coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.

You can also follow Sam Connon on Twitter @SamConnon.