Chicago Cubs Are Meeting With Japanese Phenom Roki Sasaki

The Chicago Cubs are meeting with Japanese free agent phenom pitcher Roki Sasaki on Friday.
Mar 20, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Japan starting pitcher Roki Sasaki (14) celebrates with teammates after the first inning against Mexico at LoanDepot Park.
Mar 20, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Japan starting pitcher Roki Sasaki (14) celebrates with teammates after the first inning against Mexico at LoanDepot Park. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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Coming into the MLB offseason, the Chicago Cubs were viewed as one of the teams who could make a serious push to sign Japanese phenom starting pitcher Roki Sasaki.

Almost every team around the league would love to land Sasaki since he has the potential of becoming an MLB superstar.

For the Cubs, they have had a lot of success with bringing Japanese players in.

Jed Hoyer and the Chicago front office have been able to find ways to get deals done. They have created a culture for Japanese players that helps bring a comfort to the transition from Japan to Major League Baseball, most recently Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga.

Sasaki would be a massive pickup for the Cubs as they look to get back into contention.

According to a report from Bruce Levine of 670 The Score, Chicago is meeting with Sasaki in Los Angeles on Friday.

Throughout the MLB offseason thus far, the Cubs have been very busy.

They have pulled off quite a few smaller moves, but have also made two major trades.

First and foremost, they were able to acquire superstar outfielder Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros. After that move was made, they ended up trading star outfielder Cody Bellinger to the New York Yankees.

Chicago is not shying away from making big moves when they make sense which has been a pleasant surprise for Cubs fans.

Bringing in Sasaki would make this winter an instant win for Chicago.

During the 2024 Japanese season, the phenom ended up pitching in 18 games. He compiled a 10-5 record to go along with a 2.35 ERA, 1.036 WHIP, 129 strikeouts, 32 walks, and 111.0 innings pitched.

A rotation consisting of Justin Steele, Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd, and Sasaki could end up being the best in baseball if they can get this deal done.

While the Cubs are getting a meeting with Sasaki on Friday, they have a lot of work to do to sign him.

The Los Angeles Dodgers lurk as a major threat with Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto already there as recruiting pitches.

Hopefully, the front office can get a deal done.

Chicago landing Sasaki would immediately raise their chances of getting back into the playoffs in 2025.


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Evan Massey
EVAN MASSEY

Evan Massey is a sports reporter and analyst who covers both the NFL and NBA. He has worked for ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Forbes, Bleacher Report, NFLAnalysis.net, NBAAnalysis.net, and many other publications. In his free time, Evan enjoys spending time with his wife and son.