The New York Yankees have a unique opportunity in front of them.
Unfortunately, so does the rest of the league.
Japanese free agent Roki Sasaki, the owner of a triple-digits fastball, a nasty splitter and a 2.10 ERA in the NPB over four seasons, is available for just international bonus pool money.
This development, however, makes him hard to sign because the entire league was interested.
The Yankees were among a short list of teams that met with the hurler.
As an organization, they reportedly came away satisfied with what they witnessed during their meeting in the second half of December.
There is a recurring problem with Japanese free agents and Sasaki doesn’t look like the exception: he is said to prefer West Coast squads.
https://x.com/FiresideYankees/status/1874964816651284706
“Yankee people were “satisfied” with the way their two-hour meeting with Roki Sasaki went in California. Jack Curry also added that baseball people believe that the West Coast is Sasaki’s preferred destination and that the Dodgers and Padres are perceived favorites,” Fireside Yankees posted on X.
Naturally, the flight from Japan to the West Coast of America is much, much shorter than if he had to travel to the East Coast.
It’s hard to blame Sasaki and the dozens of Japanese and Korean players before him that signed for West Coast teams.
The Yankees remain hopeful, though.
Until there isn’t an official announcement, they won’t throw in the towel.
Sasaki would make their already excellent rotation even better and deeper.
Logic indicates, however, that he is going to put pen to paper on a free agent deal with the Dodgers or Padres.
