Padres Could Have Major Advantage in Roki Sasaki Sweepstakes: Report

Valentina Martinez | Nov 10, 2024

Mar 20, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Japan starting pitcher Roki Sasaki (14) delivers a pitch during the first inning against Mexico at LoanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

As Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki is expected to make the jump from Nippon Professional Baseball to stateside baseball, the San Diego Padres may have an edge over other clubs in pursuit of the pitcher.

According to several industry sources, Sasaki will be eligible to sign for the 2024-25 international period that opens Jan. 15, 2025. Teams such as the Padres, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, or Detroit Tigers may have over $2 million in international budget, per Francys Romero.

Several industry sources believe that Roki Sasaki will be eligible to sign for the 2024-25 international period that opens next January 15, 2025.

Teams like the Padres, Rangers, Blue Jays or Tigers may have over $2 million in international budget and could compete for Sasaki.

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) November 9, 2024

Sasaki will be represented by Wasserman and agent Joel Wolfe, who has clients such as Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Yu Darvish, Kodai Senga, Giancarlo Stanton, and Nolan Arenado.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have already been linked to Sasaki for one of two reasons. The first being the Dodgers have $2.5 million remaining from the current international period and approximately $3 million left from the next period (when Sasaki is speculated to be eligible to sign).

Financially, the Dodgers are in a good place to offer Sasaki a higher signing bonus than other clubs. Additionally, Los Angeles players like Yamamato and Shohei Ohtani hope to recruit the 23-year-old pitcher, who had a 2.35 ERA in 2024 and a 1.85 ERA in 2023.

Nevertheless, the Padres have as good a chance as any team to sign Sasaki. If Sasaki is eligible in January, then San Diego should have an edge over other clubs since the team can offer him a larger sum of money.

Padres general manager A.J. Preller explained his plan to attack the frenzy of the offseason.

“I think the biggest thing I (am) focused on right now in our group is just kind of like knowing the landscape,” Preller told Kevin Acee ofThe San Diego Union-Tribune. “Here’s the different possibilities, here’s what’s going to be out there, being open-minded to (where) different paths you take us to from a payroll standpoint. The only thing I’ve seen repeatedly when I’ve been here — and I think we’ve demonstrated — is we want to win. We’re here to win a championship. I think we’re going to do it responsibly. But we’re looking to win championships. We’re looking to get in the playoffs.

“And when you do that, if we need to have certain resources, we’ll have those conversations. But that’s really what the next couple months are for. And it’s not like, ‘Hey, you have to be at this price point to do X, Y or Z’  It’s gonna be a lot of different ways to do that. We’ve done it a lot of different ways over the last five years or so. And I think … we’re gonna get to over the next couple weeks and months, depending on what players are out there, what we need to do.”

If the Padres manage to add a pitcher like Sasaki, their rotation would look even more dangerous than it did in 2024. With Joe Musgrove missing the 2025 season, Sasaki could fill that slot in the rotation.