The big fish in free agency for the New York Yankees is currently playing in the Bronx, but there's another rising Japanese star who has drawn the interest of several MLB teams.
After the Los Angeles Dodgers won the $325 million bid for standout Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who rejected the Yankees' $300 million bid, a new rising star in the form of right-handed pitcher Roki Sasaki has the eye of MLB.
According to Erik Boland of Newsday, the Yankees "are positioning themselves for a run" at the 22-year-old flamethrower. Boland reported the Yankees "have had someone in Japan pretty much all season watching Sasaki."
Boland notes that it hasn't been confirmed Sasaki will be posted during the winter, especially due to the fact that he's under 25 years old. However, the majority belief is that he will.
As an international player under the age of 25, Sasaki would be subject to MLB international bonus pools, greatly limiting the amount he can sign for if posted. He also would need his current Japanese team to agree to post him.
Essentially, Sasaki would be considered an international amateur. That means he can only be offered a rookie contract in the majors while receiving a signing bonus that would come out of the team's international bonus pool.
Most notably, Shohei Ohtani was the last Japanese star to post that early in his career at age 23. His deal with the Los Angeles Angels was for $2.3 million.
In nine starts this season, Sasaki is 5-2 with a 1.96 ERA, 70 strikeouts, 18 walks and a 0.97 WHIP in 59.1 innings with the Chiba Lotte Marines.
It will be interesting to see what happens this winter, especially with the Juan Soto sweepstakes, but Sasaki will be a name to keep an eye on over the offseason.
