Detroit Tigers Are Preparing To Chase Japanese Phenom Roki Sasaki, Harris Says
The Detroit Tigers have let it be known that they are likely done in terms of handing out large contracts to free agent starting pitchers after the Alex Cobb deal.
That doesn't mean they aren't going to pursue the top international name on the market in Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki. A prospect the quality of Sasaki would normally go to the highest bidder as was the case last with Yoshinobu Yamamoto's earth-shattering $325 million deal with the spend-happy Los Angeles Dodgers. Due to the fact that Sasaki just turned 23 years old and is under the minimum age of 25 to not be classified as an international amateur, the playing field is leveled.
Sasaki is going to choose which team he plays for based on a number of factors, but a massive contract is not going to be one of them. Previous reporting has indicated that he could prefer a smaller market team with a demonstrated ability to develop starting pitching, which obviously runs contrary to the assumed narrative that he will end up with Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani on the Dodgers. Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris spoke at the Winter Meetings about the team's interest in Sasaki and said they are going to make a strong effort.
"Every team in baseball wants Sasaki," Harris said via USA Today. "We do, too. We're hard at work on a presentation to position this organization as appealing to Roki and his agent. It's going to be pretty fierce competition, and we're hard at work to make our case, and we'll see how it goes."
Coming off a sensational four-year professional career in Japan, Sasaki posted a 10-5 record with a 2.35 ERA for the Chiba Lotte Marines in the Japan Pacific League in 2024. This was coming off an even better year in 2023 where he put up an ERA 1.78 with an almost laughable WHIP of 0.747 all while striking out 135 batters in just 91 innings.
Sasaki has the potential to change any rotation he ends up in. With a nasty arsenal led by a devastating splitter, he is seen as possibly the best prospect to come over from Japan in a very long time. The chance to add Sasaki to a unit that already includes Tarik Skubal with the soon-to-be addition of top prospect Jackson Jobe has to make Detroit fans absolutely salivate at the potential.
Skubal, Jobe, and Sasaki would form the best trio in baseball by a wide margin, but dreaming about it and making it a reality are two very different things.
Landing the future superstar would require fending off just about every other team in Major League Baseball. All you can ask for though is a real effort, and by the sounds of it Harris is preparing to make just that.
