Roki Sasaki sounds like a huge believer in the age-old adage that time is money.
The 23-year-old Japanese pitcher is expected to sign with an MLB squad in the coming months. Sasaki is set to forego a generational amount of wealth due to MLB’s international posting rules if he ultimately does put pen to paper.
Given that Sasaki is under the age of 25, he would be subjected to international bonus pool money restrictions that limit what teams can offer him. A free agent offer reportedly could have been above $200 million. But according to Sasaki’s agent Joel Wolfe, the money is secondary to his client’s ultimate goal.
“He’s a guy that wants to be great,” Wolfe said. “He’s not coming here just to be rich. He wants to be one of the greatest, ever.”
Agent Joel Wolfe on why Roki Sasaki wants to come to MLB now, sacrificing at least $200 million instead of waiting two years: ‘He's a guy that wants to be great. He's not coming here just to be rich.
‘He wants to be one of the greatest, ever.’— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 31, 2024
In his four seasons playing for Chiba Lotte in Japan, Sasaki has maintained a stellar 2.02 ERA and 0.88 WHIP across 69 starts.
Sasaki may be losing out on a bigger paycheck in the short term, but his immense talent all but guarantees him multi-million dollar contracts for the rest of his career. Getting a head start on his MLB journey could prove to be much more valuable to him than padding his bank account.
Sasaki recently met with a couple of teams on the East Coast. With the battle for his services heating up, Sasaki made an unusual request of his suitors.
