As interest among MLB teams in Sasaki Rocchi (23), a fastball pitcher for the Chiba Lotte Giants in the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) who has declared his intention to go to the Major League, is heating up, Sasaki’s destination has become the biggest topic of conversation in the baseball world.
MLB.com stated, “The Chiba Lotte Marines, a team in the NPB Pacific League, has finally approved Sasaki’s posting (private competitive bidding), which will have a significant ripple effect on the MLB stove league.”
Sasaki Roku is considered to be the starting pitcher with the best stuff (velocity) of any Asian pitcher in history, including in MLB.
With a terrifying fastball that averages 158 km/h and tops out at 165 km/h, a forkball that averages over 140 km/h, and a slider, he has become even more promising as he has evolved into a three-pitch pitcher.
He achieved the youngest perfect game in Japanese professional baseball at the age of 20 in 2022, and contributed to Japan’s victory by winning the 2023 WBC (World Baseball Classic).
MLB team executives predict Sasaki’s potential destinations will be the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. The general consensus is that the Dodgers have Ohtani and Yamamoto, while San Diego has Yu Darvish, offering potential for Japanese synergy.
However, Sasaki’s transfer doesn’t offer much to Chiba Lotte. Under the Japan-U.S. Professional Baseball Agreement, Japanese players under the age of 25 who advance to the Major Leagues are prohibited from signing high-value contracts under international amateur contract regulations.
Therefore, unlike Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who signed a large contract worth 325 million dollars over 12 years with the LA Dodgers and gave Orix a large compensation, the maximum compensation Lotte can receive in the case of Sasaki’s transfer is 2 billion won, which is low.
In the KBO (Korea Professional Baseball) league, players must have played for seven years before being eligible to play overseas. However, Japan has no such regulations. With the club’s consent, players are allowed to transfer via posting. Therefore, there’s no reason to keep Sasaki, who had been locked in a war of words with the club over his chances of playing in the Major Leagues. Ultimately, the club has given its permission.
This means that all MLB teams are likely to participate in the Sasaki recruitment battle, and one MLB team executive predicted that the most important recruitment strategy will be to impress Sasaki through team promotion rather than the size of the signing bonus.
