The Chicago Cubs are reported to be focused on landing 23-year-old pitching phenom Roki Sasaki and were even granted an audience with the young star as he mulled over which major league team to join this winter.
It’s thought that the Cubs are on the short list of finalists in that regard, as Sasaki and his team consider where he’ll spend the next few years of his career.
Some feel that it’s already a given that he’ll sign with the powerhouse Los Angeles Dodgers, who seemed to become the Japanese team of choice when they picked up free agents Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto prior to the 2024 season.
Los Angeles Dodgers Favored To Win The Sasaki Race?
R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports, for example, feels that, based on his prediction method, Sasaki to the Dodgers is most likely.
“My free-agent rankings are based on expected average annual value, but I took some creative liberties with that methodology to slot in Sasaki as high as I did. Remember, he’s subject to MLB’s rules regarding international amateur free agents because of his youth and limited professional experience, meaning he can sign for only as much as a team has in international bonus pool money.
In theory, Sasaki’s limited earning potential should make his free agency an open affair. I’m still sticking with my original guess. I may not know what, precisely, Sasaki values most in his employer, but the Dodgers seem to offer any and everything a player could want: excellent player development staff; prestige; championship aspirations; and even some familiar faces in Team Japan teammates Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.”
Sasaki Is A Different Kind Of Free Agent
Sasaki, though, appears to be a different kind of character. By all accounts, he’s a mature young man, more concerned with personal growth than flash and grandeur. That characteristic, alone, makes it quite possible that signing with Los Angeles isn’t necessarily sure thing.
“He has a more long-term, global view of things,” his agent Joel Wolfe told media on Monday. “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.
“Roki is by no means a finished product. He knows it, and the teams know it. He’s incredibly talented. We all know that. But he is a guy that wants to be great. He’s not coming here just to be rich or to get a huge contract. He wants to be great. He wants to be one of the greatest ever.
“I see that now, and he’s articulated it. And to be that, he knows he has to challenge himself. And I think his experience at the WBC, being around (Yu Darvish), being around (Shohei Ohtani), and then seeing (Shota Imanaga) come over and dominate at such a level in the first half, I believe he realized in order to take it to the next level, he had to come here, play against the best players in the world every day and tap into all the resources that major-league teams have to help him become one of the best pitchers to ever, not just come out in NPB, but to be one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball.
“That’s what he wants, and that’s why he came. That’s what I’ve learned.”
Do The Chicago Cubs Still Have A Chance?
That aspect to Sasaki’s character makes the Chicago Cubs have hope that they can win his favor after all.
They have the success of Shota Imanaga to point to, plus one of the most advanced pitching programs in the majors. Fingers will be crossed in Chicago.
Time will tell, though, what Sasaki decides.
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