Pirates Could Make Sense For Roki Sasaki
The Pittsburgh Pirates have had a relatively quiet offseason outside of trading for left-handed hitting first baseman Spencer Horwitz.
Could a typically quiet offseason have a bigger move lying ahead for the Pirates?
Of the remaining free agents, few will make a bigger splash than when Japanese right-handed star pitcher Roki Sasaki decides where he's going to sign. Sasaki was posted by his team, the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball, on Dec. 9 and he'll have until Jan. 23. Across the last four seasons, Sasaki went 30-15 with a 2.02 ERA and he struck out 524 batters over 414.2 innings pitched.
MLB's Jon Morosi reported that the seven teams the star right-hander has met with thus far are the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers. He also added that there's one other team that isn't among the listed teams that has met with Sasaki.
If it was a traditional bidding war for a free agent, the Pirates wouldn't be able to hold a candle to teams like the Dodgers, Mets and Yankees. But with Sasaki being 23 years old and now accruing enough service time outside of the MLB, he's an international free agent and subject to what teams have in their international bonus pool, putting nearly every team on an even playing field who are in pursuit of the flamethrowing right-hander. Pittsburgh is tied for having the second-highest international signing bonus pool.
There's no telling if the Pirates are indeed the mystery team that's in on Sasaki, but they'd fit part of the criteria he's seeking, per his agent, Joel Wolfe. Wolfe highlighted a team's pitching development as one of the deciding factors in Sasaki's eventual decision.
"He has a more long-term, global view of things," Wolfe said. "I believe Roki is also very interested in the pitching development and how a team is going to help him get better, both in the near future and over the course of his career."
Few teams have developed a better cast of pitchers throughout their system than the Pirates. Paul Skenes won the National League Rookie of the Year and was a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award on the heels of a historic first season. Jared Jones also had a strong rookie season in 2024.
Along with the talent Pittsburgh has recently added, it's also the only team to have three pitchers in MLB Pipeline's top-100 rankings with right-handed pitching prospects Bubba Chandler (15), Braxton Ashcraft (85) and Thomas Harrington (91). Chandler is the second-best pitcher in MLB Pipeline's rankings.
The arrival of Skenes and Jones and who could soon be a part of their crop of pitchers in the big leagues point to a team that has done a good job of developing pitchers. Along with that, signing Sasaki could position the Pirates to improve elsewhere.
If Pittsburgh were to sign Sasaki, the odds it'll have room to add three top pitching prospects is slim. That could open things up for the Pirates to trade one of the three to address the need they have in right field.
After the back-to-back 76-86 seasons, Pittsburgh needs a splash if it's going to get over the hump in 2025. A tandem of Skenes and Sasaki would electrify baseball and position the Pirates as well as they have been to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
