Philadelphia Phillies Get Update On When They Can Sign Japanese Phenom

If the Philadelphia Phillies have interest in signing Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, they have now gotten a better idea of when they can do that.

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

With the Philadelphia Phillies looking for starting pitching this offseason, a very interesting name became available when it was announced that Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki would be posted by his Nippon Professional Baseball team.

That was huge news around the sport.

Since he's coming over before he's 25 years old, he can only sign as an international free agent, which gives all 30 teams in the league a realistic shot of landing him.

For the Phillies, he could be exactly what they're looking for on multiple fronts.

Not only is Sasaki one of the premier pitching talents in the world, but landing him would also be a major statement in Japan that they are a destination for players looking to come to Major League Baseball.

Philadelphia is miles behind when it comes to their reach in Asia, something this front office regime is looking to change when it comes to their footprint overseas.

They were willing to offer Yoshinobu Yamamoto a megadeal last winter to convince him to sign with the club, but he ultimately joined the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Phillies could view this as their chance to make a splash, and if they do, it wouldn't cost them a ton of capital since he can only sign a minor league contract.

It's been reported that Philadelphia has scouted the phenom in the past, so there is at least some level of interest.

Whether or not that amounts to anything will be seen.

Dave Dombrowski and his front office got an update on when they might be able to sign Sasaki, with commissioner Rob Manfred stating he expects the right-hander to be apart of the 2025 international signing class which would put his signing date after Jan. 15.

This would allow the international signing pool to reset for every team since the majority of money has already been allocated to players who clubs around the league have handshake agreements with.

That's a positive for the Phillies.

They would be able to hold onto the players they already have agreements with for the 2024 period, before turning their attention to Sasaki and potentially making him their lone member of the 2025 class if it comes to that.

Again, it's not known if that's something Philadelphia is interested in doing or not, but they at least have an updated timetable on when the phenom will be available to be signed.