Timeline for Roki Sasaki to sign with MLB team revealed

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-USA TODAY Sports

Those waiting for the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes to be resolved will have to keep waiting for a while longer.

Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred provided an update on the timeline for the Japanese pitching phenom Sasaki to sign with an MLB team. Manfred said that he expects Sasaki to sign as part of the 2025 international signing class, per Jorge Castillo of ESPN. That would means Sasaki not signing with an MLB team until at least Jan. 15.

The 23-year-old right-hander Sasaki, who is currently with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan, is set to be posted by the Marines this MLB offseason. He holds some impressive numbers in Japan with a 2.10 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP, and 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings over four total NPB seasons. Sasaki has also been named a two-time NPB All-Star, pitched a perfect game in 2022, and holds NPB’s all-time single-game strikeouts record (19).

Meanwhile, the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who already have the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on their roster, are seen as the favorites to sign Sasaki. But we recently heard that there could be a few other MLB clubs who are in better position to sign Sasaki instead.