Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Have Clear Selling Point in Roki Sasaki Sweepstakes, per Insider

The New York Yankees have this one thing in their favor when pursuing Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki.

Grant Young

Mar 20, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Japan starting pitcher Roki Sasaki (14) delivers a pitch during 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) delivers a pitch during the first inning against Mexico at LoanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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In a September article, MLB.com's Mark Feinsand listed the New York Yankees as a potential fit for 23-year-old Japanese superstar pitcher Roki Sasaki, who has posted a sterling 29-15 record with a 2.10 ERA and 505 strikeouts in 394.3 innings across four seasons spent playing in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league.

However, ever since Sasaki was officially posted on December 10, the sentiment within the baseball community is that the Los Angeles Dodgers are the clear favorite to acquire him with the San Diego Padres not far behind.

What's for sure is that just about every MLB team will want to sign the phenom, especially since he's only able to pitch on a major league minimum salary until he's 25.

But the Yankees can make a compelling pitch to Sasaki that no other MLB team can match, which the New York Post's Jon Heyman conveyed in a December 26 article.

"Both the Yankees and Mets were given meetings with superstar Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki but both surely understand they’re not the favorites here," Heyman wrote.

"The Mets could sell their recent pitching successes and the Yankees their long history of winning."

Of course, no other team comes close to the Yankees' 27 World Series titles, which has turned New York into perhaps the most iconic and recognizable sports franchise in the world.

While that surely will appeal to Sasaki (and sets the Yankees apart), Heyman still added, "But it’ll be a shock if [Sasaki] doesn’t land on the West Coast."

The Yankees have shocked the baseball world before, so perhaps they can do so again by landing Sasaki.

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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.

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