Image credit: Roki Sasaki (Photo by Mary DeCicco/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images) Jeff Passan from ESPN reported on Saturday that the Japanese right-handed pitcher Roki Sasaki is expected to be posted next week during the 2024 Baseball Winter Meetings. Although this would technically grant Sasaki the opportunity to sign before the conclusion of the current […]
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Roki Sasaki (Photo by Mary DeCicco/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Jeff Passan from ESPN reported on Saturday that the Japanese right-handed pitcher Roki Sasaki is expected to be posted next week during the 2024 Baseball Winter Meetings.
Although this would technically grant Sasaki the opportunity to sign before the conclusion of the current international signing period on December 15, it also notably permits him to join the subsequent international signing period starting January 15.
This implies that all 30 MLB teams’ international bonus pools will be reset, ensuring the maximum possible bonus for Sasaki. His current organization, the Chiba Lotte Marines, will receive a posting fee equal to 20% of the signing bonus.
After his official posting, Sasaki will have 45 days to come to an agreement. He can negotiate during this 45-day timeframe, but due to designated signing windows, once December 16 passes, he won’t be able to officially sign until January 15 when the 2025 international amateur signing period commences.
Since he will postpone until the 2025 signing period, Sasaki’s negotiations are likely to disrupt the international plans of some teams for 2025, as Ben Badler has discussed here at Baseball America. Badler has also detailed the seven teams most likely to acquire Sasaki.
Sasaki is regarded as one of the premier young pitchers globally, and his entry will incite a flurry of activity. The MLB team that secures him will be gaining a potential top-of-the-rotation starter at a fraction of the price he would command on the open market. Due to not meeting the criteria to be classified as a “foreign professional,” he will be limited to signing a MiLB contract with a signing bonus. Teams can advocate for why Sasaki should choose them, but the regulations concerning evading those bonus and contract limitations are fairly stringent.
