The baseball community was sent into a frenzy earlier this week when the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball announced that they would be posting 23-year-old phenom starting pitcher Roki Sasaki.
The posting system allows Sasaki to sign with any of the 30 major league baseball teams in exchange for financial compensation to his NPB team.
Given his age, Sasaki is considered an international amateur free agent and can sign only a minor league contract, which drastically limits how much teams can pay him and leveling the playing field for smaller market teams.
Sasaki, who asked to be posted last year but was denied by his team, will take a similar path as Shohei Ohtani, the superstar who arrived in MLB at the age of 23 and signed with the Los Angeles Angels for $2.3 million.
Due to this, the Baltimore Orioles are in a prime position to go after the young right-hander. The Birds have $2.1 million left in their 2024-25 bonus pool, the second largest behind, you guessed it, the Los Angeles Dodgers ($2.5M).
So, who exactly is Roki Sasaki, and why is he receiving so much hype?
To give some background, Sasaki has spent his last four years pitching in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). In 69 career games, the Rikuzentakata native has posted a 30-15 record, a 2.02 ERA and has struck out 524 batters in 414.2 innings.
Sasaki’s pitch mix includes a four-seam fastball that routinely reaches triple digits, a devastating splitter and a slider. He’s a two-time All-Star in the NPB and most notably threw a perfect game in 2022, striking out 19 of the 27 batters he faced. He then followed that performance with eight more perfect innings in his next outing before being pulled to protect his arm.
With all of this in mind, let’s put on our general manager hats and make a pitch to Roki Sasaki. Let’s make the case for him as to why he should sign with the Orioles organization.
Reason 1: The young core
I mean, where else would you start if you’re GM Mike Elias and Co.?
How many organizations can truly say that they are set up to win for the next decade as well as the Orioles? Sasaki fits the Orioles’ timeline very well and can insert himself right into the mix of one of baseball’s best young cores, led by the likes of Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman and Jordan Westburg.
Plus, with Sasaki’s initial price tag limited, the Orioles will still have the capability and flexibility in the free agent market to get another top starting pitcher, whether that’s re-signing Corbin Burnes or going after someone like Blake Snell or Max Fried.
Why wouldn’t Sasaki want to be a major contribution to one of the top starting rotations in all of baseball?
Reason 2: Being a guy or the guy
This is obviously a preference thing, and it’s hard to know where Sasaki stands. But it’s certainly an area where the Orioles have an advantage over the current betting favorite in the Dodgers.
Many believe that with the Dodgers rostering Japanese superstars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, it’s all but a done deal for Sasaki to follow in their footsteps. However, there is a world where that actually helps the Orioles in their pursuit of him.
With both Ohtani and Yamamoto already firmly in the rotation and Tyler Glasnow set to return, Sasaki would, at best, be a middle of the rotation guy, seen as more of a want than a need. The exact opposite would be the case in Charm City.
The Orioles’ rotation already faces the free agency of the aforementioned Burnes, and Kyle Bradish is looking like a mid-to-late-season addition at the earliest. Grayson Rodriguez and Zach Eflin are really the only reliable starters the O’s will have under contract, and Sasaki’s track record would make him a bonafide ace of this young team and a fan favorite for a long, long time.
Reason 3: Money
Money won’t be the biggest factor in the Sasaki sweepstakes. Only being able to sign a minor league deal will probably put his contract in the two million dollar range, similar to the deal Ohtani struck with the Angels when he was posted.
Assuming Sasaki signs in the 2024 signing period, here are the top teams with the five largest international bonus pools:
- Dodgers: $2,502,500
- Orioles: $2,147,300
- Yankees: $1,487,200
- Giants: $1,247,500
- Red Sox: $990,000
While this does bode very well for the heavily-favored Dodgers, it’s a good reminder that Baltimore can be very competitive financially if that’s what it comes to. I don’t think any Orioles fan would be upset with Mike Elias and Co. if they gave every penny of that pool to Sasaki.
In addition, according to a source close to Sasaki, a smaller market team with a good development system and bright long-term future could be the best fit.
If I were Mike Elias, those would be my three main selling points. Hopefully, there is some truth to Sasaki looking more towards a smaller market with a good development system, but it’s far too early to tell where his head is at.
The next 40 or so days will be nothing short of a roller coaster, but Elias will have his opportunity to completely revitalize his 2025 rotation with the pursuit of this young flamethrowing righty.
We want to hear from you. Are there any selling points I missed? Does Sasaki even interest you? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter (X) and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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