Japanese Pitcher Roki Sasaki Identified as 'Realistic' Fit For Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners have been relatively quiet in the offseason. Despite having needs at first, second and third base, the only player the Mariners have added that play one of those positions is Austin Shenton.
But Seattle's fortunes have a chance to turn in the next several weeks.
Potential target Justin Turner is still available for the Mariners to sign. Seattle is also one-of-three teams that have expressed the greatest interest in Korean middle infielder and international free agent Hyeseong Kim. The deadline for Kim to sign with an MLB club is Jan. 3. If he fails to to come to terms on a deal,he'll return to the Korean Baseball Organization.
There's another international free agent the Mariners are targeting who also has a January deadline to sign with a club.
When the news came out that Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki would be posted, he became arguably the most sought-after free agent of the offseason aside from Juan Soto.
Sasaki won't demand nearly the money Soto did due to international free agent rules. Sasaki, at only 23 years-old, can only be signed to a minor league deal. That will mean most of his money will come from a signing bonus, which will count toward the 2025 international signing pool.
Because of Sasaki's circumstances, there's the expectation that a lot of teams will be in on the World Baseball Classic gold medalist's services. Seattle President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto confirmed at Winter Meetings, which took place Dec. 9-12 in Dallas, that the Mariners would be in on Sasaki.
And per a recent story from MLB.com, a union between Sasaki and Seattle would be the "perfect fit."
The story explored one realistic free agent target for all 30 teams with contributions from a variety of site writers. And MLB.com's Mariners beat writer, Daniel Kramer, had the following to say about the club signing Sasaki:
The Japanese phenom appears on this list more than any free agent, and for good reason -- given the affordability related to his eventual contract’s limitations, that his agent has suggested the right-hander is more open to smaller-market teams than was initially forecasted and the extreme demands for starting pitching within this year’s free-agent and trade candidates. But the Mariners believe they can separate themselves by pitching (pun intended) the success of their homegrown starters like Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo, their ability to keep those arms healthy, their rich relationships with Japanese-born players -- and their home environment being one of the least hitter-friendly ballparks in the sport.
Seattle reportedly has a pitch in place that would attempt to sell Sasaki on a lot of details Kramer mentioned. Namely the organization's elite pitching development, which has developed two current All-Stars, Logan Gilbert and George Kirby. Mariners legend, Japanese-born player and likely 2025 Hall of Fame inductee Ichiro Suzuki is rumored to be included in the pitch.
Sasaki has a career ERA of 2.02 with 524 strikeouts across 414.2 innings pitched and 69 starts in four years in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.
79 seconds of Roki Sasaki's 100mph Fastballs (or higher). ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/VGHphmJTIt
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 21, 2023
There would be several benefits to the Mariners signing Sasaki. They would be able to go with a six-man rotation to maintain the health of their returning starters. They were the only group that had four pitchers start 30 or more games in 2024. The addition of Sasaki would also make it easier for Seattle to part with a starting pitcher if it is still looking for an elite bat.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres are presumed to be the favorites to sign Sasaki. But given the Mariners' track record with pitching and Japanese-born players (the two occasionally overlap), it's hard to imagine they don't have at least a puncher's chance to land the former Chiba Lotte Marines hurler.
The deadline for Sasaki to come to terms with an MLB team is Jan. 23. He'll have to sign after Jan. 15 for the deal to count toward the 2025 signing pool.
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