Japanese Phenom San Francisco Giants Target Will Officially Be Posted by His Team

The San Francisco Giants could have another option to pursue this winter as one a Japanese phenom will now be officially posted by his team.

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

Things just got a whole lot more interesting for the San Francisco Giants this offseason.

Led by new president of baseball operations Buster Posey for the first time, the Giants are looking to augment this roster by upgrading certain areas to get themselves back into contender status in the loaded National League.

Something they might have to target is starting pitching.

With Blake Snell opting out of his contract and hitting the open market, the possibility of losing the two-time Cy Young winner, who delivered an incredible second half of the year, would be a devastating blow.

Posey has talked about making the left-hander a priority to re-sign, but with the type of deal he's expected to get this winter, there's a chance they have to backfill his opening.

But a new intriguing option has emerged.

Per Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball will officially post Japanese phenom pitcher Roki Sasaki, making him available for all 30 Major League teams to sign.

The right-hander is considered to be one of the best pitching talents in the world and will immediately become a coveted player this cycle by just about every MLB team.

What makes this situation even more interesting is he's coming stateside at just 23 years old, meaning he will be signed as an international free agent on a minor league deal that takes his potential contract down from hundreds of millions of dollars to likely under $10 million.

That's huge for San Francisco.

Yes, they have money to spend, but if they can bring in an ace-caliber pitcher for this little amount of money, that would still allow them to allocate finances to other areas of the roster they are looking to upgrade.

It would also reduce the impact of potentially losing Snell.

Sasaki has already produced a mythical-like career in Japan, throwing a 12-inning, 21-strikeout, 194-pitch complete game in high school and a 19-strikeout perfect game for Lotte at just 20 years old.

It's unclear exactly when the phenom will be posted and made available, but once that does become official, he is someone who the Giants should heavily pursue.