Seattle Mariners Reportedly Preparing a Pitch For Japanese Phenom Roki Sasaki
The first two weeks of the MLB offseason have been relatively tame, especially for the Seattle Mariners.
The Juan Soto sweepstakes has yet to reach a conclusion entering Wednesday and most top free agents are yet to find new homes (and contracts).
On the Mariners' side of things, the biggest moves that have happened have been declining second baseman Jorge Polanco's option and the signing former Philadelphia Phillies pitching prospect Adonis Medina to a minor league deal with a spring training invite.
But the wheels could start moving around the league, and in Seattle, in the very near future.
Aside from the bidding war taking place for Soto's services, perhaps the most intriguing story of the pre-2025 offseason will be which teams signs Japanese ace Roki Sasaki.
Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball club, the Chiba Lotte Marines, are expected to post Sasaki sometime soon. He's expected to agree to a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers — the same team that signed last year's international crown jewel free agent Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a record-breaking $325 million contract. Yamamoto is represented by Wasserman, an agency that also represents Sasaki.
The Dodgers are considered the favorites to land Sasaki, with the San Diego Padres a close second. Padres starter Yu Darvish has been a mentor to Sasaki, teaching the latter a slider that would add to an arsenal that includes a fastball that touches over 100 miles an hour.
Roki Sasaki 102 MPH
— Connected Performance (@CxnPerformance) November 12, 2024
The harder you try early in the deliver the worse off you’re probably gonna be at foot plant. Throwing is a lot more of don’t mess it up than it is get it right. You’re not good enough to force positions, no one is.
- @Pthorsen11 pic.twitter.com/uBuI9vRZJ6
But many more teams will likely make a run at the World Baseball Classic alum, including the Mariners.
An article published by Baseball America laid out a possible pitch Seattle could make the young hurler, with the primary hook of it being the Mariners penchant for developing pitching, which would be a plus for the 23 year-old.
Another story published by the Seattle Times Adam Jude on Wednesday confirmed that Seattle intends to make a go at Sasaki, per "industry sources."
Jude mentioned in the story that the Mariners have a history of success with Japanese pitchers:
The Mariners could make a compelling case around their history of success with Japanese pitchers — Kazuhiro Sasaki (2000-03), Shigetoshi Hasegawa (2002-05), Hisashi Iwakuma (2012-2017) and (Yusei) Kikuchi (2019-21) all made at least one MLB All-Star appearance with Seattle — and their recent success of developing young pitchers, notably Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo.
On the surface, the Mariners don't need starting pitching. They had arguably the best rotation in baseball last year. But signing Sasaki could lead to Seattle going to a six-man rotation, which would help preserve health. Sasaki could also give the team enough depth to package a starter for an elite bat.
There are a couple factors to keep in mind for Sasaki's posting. The first is that, due to him being under 25, teams will have to sign him to a minor league deal. That means a Yamamoto-type deal is off the table and Sasaki will count towards the international signing bonus pool.
The second is what date the Marines actually post him. If Sasaki is made available on Jan. 15 or after, then he'll count toward the 2025 signing bonus pool. The Mariners are among the clubs with the most 2025 money available at $7.6 million. If he's posted before then, he'll count to the 2024 pool. Seattle has no bonus pool money left for 2024. Los Angeles has the most remaining at $2.5 million.
Chiba Lotte will likely wait until more teams have more money available in the 2025 pool to post Sasaki. Whichever MLB club wins out on the sweepstakes for the soon-to-be NPB alum will have to pay a 20% release fee to the Marines.
If the Mariners win out for Sasaki, it would be considered a surprise. But it likely wouldn't be an unwelcome one for fans.
Related Stories on Seattle Mariners
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NATIONAL PUBLICATION LAYS OUT MARINERS PITCH FOR ROKI SASAKI: The Seattle Mariners might have a better chance at signing the young Japanese phenom than originally thought according to Baseball America. CLICK HERE
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