Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Fans Will Love This Telling Roki Sasaki Free Agency Update

The New York Yankees received a positive update from Roki Sasaki's agent on Monday.

Grant Young

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
In this story:

New York Yankees fans were not pleased to hear the initial sentiment of Joel Wolfe (who is the agent of 23-year-old Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki) when he spoke with the media on December 10.

"I think that there's an argument to be made that a smaller, mid-market team might be more beneficial for him as a soft landing," Wolfe said of his client, per SNY.

"Might be. I'm not saying it will be," Wolfe continued. "But it might be beneficial for him to be in a smaller market."

Given that some insiders believe that Sasaki is already one of the world's best pitchers (despite never throwing an MLB inning), his potentially already leaning toward a smaller market didn't bode well for the Bronx Bombers.

But Wolfe backtracked on his initial take soon after that when asked whether he believes Sasaki could handle playing in New York. "[Sasaki] hasn't said anything negative about any particular city, and he actually hasn't said anything overly positive about it," he said.

"I think he can handle [New York]," Wolfe added.

Wolfe spoke with the media on a Zoom call on December 30. And during that call, he reiterated that New York is absolutely in play for his client.

“Market size isn’t a factor either way,” Wolfe updated on Monday, according to an SNY article from Andy Martino.

Wolfe also discussed which factors Sasaki is looking for in his decision. "Wolfe said that Sasaki is driven to be the best, and is prioritizing teams whose pitching programs will make him better," Martino wrote in the article.

Yankees fans would argue that there's no better place to become "the best" than with the greatest franchise in MLB history.

Published
Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

Home/News