Seattle Mariners Officially Miss Out on Free Agent Target Roki Sasaki
The Seattle Mariners offseason has moved at a slow pace but there was some progression on Jan. 13.
The Mariners signed their first starting-caliber bat of the offseason when they inked infielder Donovan Solano to a one-year, $3.5 million contract. Unfortunately, the good news was immediately followed by some bad.
Various reports came out throughout the day that Japanese ace and World Baseball Classic gold medalist Roki Sasaki was ruling out teams.
In the early afternoon, the final teams Sasaki was considering were revealed: the Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers.
This report all but confirmed Seattle is out of the running for Sasaki. Beyond that, it seems the Mariners might not have even met with him.
Seattle, on the surface, had a compelling pitch for Sasaki. The team planned on highlighting its league-best starting pitching rotation, which drafted and developed four-of-five starters. The Mariners also reportedly planned on including franchise hit-king, Japanese icon and likely 2025 Baseball Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki in the recruiting pitch.
Seattle wasn't a team that was reported to have met with Sasaki after Winter Meetings. But there was some hope provided to fans last week after a report from MLB Network insider Jon Morosi said that there was at least one team Sasaki met with beyond the reported teams.
It looks like that mystery team was the Blue Jays, who also weren't rumored to have met with the Japanese ace.
The Dodgers and Padres have been assumed to be the favorites to land the 23 year-old starting pitcher after news broke he would be posted by Nippon Professional Baseball's Chiba Lotte Marines. But with Toronto in the mix, it seemed like Sasaki was open to hearing pitches from teams outside the favorites.
Sasaki wasn't necessarily a need for Seattle. But he would have given the Mariners a significant surplus of pitching, which would have helped preserve the health of the rotation. It could also could have made the club comfortable enough to trade one of its starting pitchers for a major league bat.
But still, it's shocking the Mariners couldn't even get a face-to-face meeting with Sasaki. And it also continues a shocking pattern for the team.
For a long time, Seattle was one of the most notable organizations when it came to employing Japanese-born players. But in the last seven years, the organization has missed out on prolific NPB imports like Shohei Ohtani, Seiya Suzuki and now Sasaki.
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