A monster is coming to Major League Baseball, and the Yankees and Mets, and actually all 28 other teams, will be interested.
“Reiwa Monster” Aki Sasaki will fulfill his long-awaited major league pitching next season.
Overnight, Nippon Professional Baseball’s Chiba Lotte Marines announced their intention to acquire Sasaki as a star starting pitcher through a posting system, making him a bargain that would fit within budget in a small market.
The right-hander, who throws 160 mph and is known for his devastating splitter, turned 23 last week.
He’s so determined to pitch in the majors that he’ll probably get there before his dream contract arrives.
If Sasaki waits two years, he could be treated as a free agent and seek a large 12-year contract worth $325 million, like the one Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed with the Dodgers last December.
Sasaki has no intention of waiting and plans to come to the majors, which are subject to international bonus pool restrictions.
Sasaki will not be following Yamamoto’s path, but rather the path of Shohei Ohtani, who came to MLB at age 23 and signed with the Angels for $2.3 million.
Sasaki requested to post last off-season, but was denied, so he returned for his fourth NPB season, pitching 111 innings and posting an ERA of 2.35.
“Since joining the team, the team has continued to listen to my thoughts on my future MLB challenges, and I am very grateful to them for now officially allowing me to post. ” Sasaki said via internet translation. Marines released. “In my five years with the Marines, there were many things that didn’t go well, but I was always supported by my teammates, staff, front office, and fans, and I was able to come this far by focusing only on baseball. I will work hard to become the best player in the world from my minor league contract so that I have no regrets in my baseball career and to live up to everyone’s expectations.
If the Marines officially post Sasaki, he will have 45 days to meet with the club and decide where to sign.
The betting favorite has to be the World Series champion Dodgers, who have Ohtani and Yamamoto as recruiters.
Mets President David Stearns came to Japan in September to inspect Sasaki.
The Yankees, who are hoping to land the Juan Soto sweepstakes, could spend hundreds of millions of dollars on one free agent and still have room for a player who would only have to empty their remaining international signing bonus pool.
However, unlike the Soto Derby, all of Major League Baseball will be willing to go all out for the star pitcher, as many teams will be scared of the money, although theoretically any team should be interested. Probably.
