Roki Sasaki Had Second Meeting With Padres in San Diego in Massive Development

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

The San Diego Padres have received another Roki Sasaki meeting.

The Athletic's veteran trio of Dennis Lin, Will Sammon, and Ken Rosenthal reported that the 23-year-old had another meeting with the Padres in San Diego over the weekend, after his additional visit with the Toronto Blue Jays in Canada.

As the sweepstakes intensify, teams are already being told they are out of the running like the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees.

The Yankees were seen as a favorite because of their former ace Masahiro Tanaka. Sasaki's agent Joel Wolfe revealed that Tanaka was his client's favorite player growing up.

However, the Giants and Yankees are out as the next international signing period opens in two days on Wednesday, Jan. 15.

After an eerily quiet offseason, signing Sasaki would be deafeningly loud to the MLB world.

Since Sasaki is under 25 years of age, he is limited to each team's international bonus pool designated for international players of that age restriction.

As many in the baseball world know, the Los Angeles Dodgers are a team that are known for spending big on free agents, without fear of paying the luxury tax.

This is where San Diego has an edge on L.A. in terms of spending, specifically for this Sasaki situation.

The international bonus pool maximum for each team is a little over $7.5 million. The Dodgers and newly-rejected Giants have the lowest current pool total at $5.1 million.

The two known teams to have had a second Sasaki meeting, Toronto and San Diego, both have a little over $6.2 million available for the right-hander.

Despite two of Sasaki's World Baseball Classic teammates in the Dodgers 2025 rotation — NL MVP Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — San Diego still has a significant leg up on their rivals up North.

Another WBC teammate of the 23-year-old, Yu Darvish, is a key member of the Padres.

Not only is this less competition for outside endorsements if Sasaki were a Dodger, but Darvish is said to have a "Godfather-type influence" on the phenom.

Darvish, who was openly unhappy when both Ohtani and Yamamoto did not sign with the Friars last season, can now help Sasaki pave a new path for Japanese players coming to MLB.

Last month, Darvish said in an interview how much he wanted to help the Padres finally team-up with one of his WBC teammates.

“If there is an opportunity or if I am asked to join a meeting, I’m here in San Diego throughout the offseason," said Darvish. "So if there is a time or if they want me to come join a meeting, then, yeah, I’ll be happy to do that.”

Sasaki has a career ERA of 2.02 with 524 blistering strikeouts to only 91 walks in his 414.2 innings pitched.

More news: Padres Target Roki Sasaki Has Informed Another Major Contender They Are Out of Sweepstakes


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