The New York Mets met Thursday with worldwide beginner free agent Roki Sasaki, the extremely coveted 23-year-old right-handed pitcher from Japan, league sources confirmed. SNY first reported the assembly.
The Mets face stiff competitors for Sasaki, although it’s unclear what number of groups count on to satisfy with him throughout this preliminary spherical of get-togethers. After Sasaki’s official posting, his agent, Joel Wolfe, stated on the Winter Meetings earlier this month that groups would meet with Sasaki at a central location. New York Yankees common supervisor Brian Cashman stated lately that his crew expects to satisfy with Sasaki, with out specifying when. Other golf equipment have but to substantiate any plans, although groups such because the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres additionally make sense as potential matches.
Teams can’t signal Sasaki till Jan. 15 when the brand new worldwide signing interval opens. His 45-day posting interval ends Jan. 24. That leaves a interval between Jan. 15 and Jan. 24 when Sasaki should signal. Wolfe hoped it might be nearer to Jan. 15 in order that Sasaki would have sufficient time to use for a visa and arrive at spring coaching on time.
Because Sasaki can solely be signed by way of every crew’s worldwide bonus swimming pools, which vary from roughly $5.1 million to $7.5 million, Wolfe stated he deliberate to advise Sasaki towards signing for essentially the most cash. Other components, like a membership’s monitor report with participant growth, could play a task.
Pitching in Nippon Professional Baseball final season, Sasaki went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA and a 1.036 WHIP. He struck out 129 and walked 32 in 111 innings for the Chiba Lotte Marines.
Near the beginning of the Sasaki sweepstakes, The Athletic reported that the Mets have been believed to be in an honest place, league sources stated final month, as a result of they’ve a very good really feel for the market. That was evidenced by their signing of Japanese pitcher Kodai Senga and the way they dealt with his transition to the large leagues, which has been perceived positively inside the business. The Mets additionally seem to have made a very good impression throughout their pursuit of Japanese free-agent pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto final winter. Though Yamamoto in the end selected the Dodgers, the Mets made a robust run on the pitcher with their presentation.
With Sasaki, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns stated he traveled to Japan in September to look at him pitch in particular person as a approach of expressing a degree of curiosity and respect.
During the Winter Meetings, Stearns stated that the membership had despatched of their presentation to Sasaki’s company.
“We spotlight a wide range of various things,” Stearns stated. “The first is who we’re as a company, what we imagine in, what we predict makes us a bit distinctive in comparison with different groups he is perhaps contemplating. We spotlight the varied providers we will present for a participant. We spotlight our familiarity with transitioning a Japanese starter to the major-league schedule. We spotlight our pitching equipment, our well being equipment, our vitamin equipment. We need him to know we now have the sources and the power to make the transition as easy as potential.”
(Photo of Roki Sasaki: Eric Espada / Getty Images)
