San Francisco Giants Are 'Believed' To Have Met With Roki Sasaki

The San Francisco Giants are believed to have met with the most sought after player in free agency according to at least one report.

Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants are still seeking starting pitching, but according to a report this week, they may still have a shot at reeling in the most sought after player still available in Japanese sensation Roki Sasaki.

By all accounts, the Giants pursuit of Corbin Burnes is very real and still has a great shot at ending in a signing, but Sasaki was not someone San Francisco was looked at as having a great chance to land. But according to a report this week from team insider Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants are at the very least “believed to have met" with Sasaki and his team, not something that every team will be able to say despite the fact that money is no object in this pursuit.

Due to Sasaki's young age of 23 years old, he is limited in terms of the type of contract he can command and will not be able to secure the megadeal that his fellow countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto received from the Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason. Sasaki is limited to what team's have in their international signing pool, meaning he can only get a maximum of $7.5 million. Because of this, teams who would ordinarily not have much of a chance in a race for a major free agent will have the chance to be heard.

Buster Posey spoke openly at the Winter Meetings about his desire to land Sasaki and said it would be a 'dream' to land the youngster with a devastating arsenal led by a nasty splitter.

"Not too many arms in the world like his. He's a tremendous talent. He's 23 years old," Posey said via Maria Guardado at the time. "It's fun to dream on. It's fun to think about him at Oracle Park and him pitching deep into a game late in the year, the place rocking. We'd be over the moon to add a guy like that."

If San Francisco was actually able to land a meeting as Slusser reported, it's a major development. Without teams like the Dodgers or the New York Yankees being able to dangle a massive contract in front of the future star as has been the case time and time again, teams actually have to sell a vision to Sasaki and convince him why their team and city is the best place for him.

Nobody is racing to call the Giants the frontrunners to sign him, but hearing they are at the very least taking the steps needed to make themselves a factor in the sweepstakes is enough to excite fans and make them dream of the possibility.