Last offseason, the Yankees made it known that they were looking into improving their pitching. They were closely linked with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and signed Marcus Stroman. While they missed out on Yamamoto, now, it appears that this summer, we will hear a lot of Roki Sasaki Yankees rumors.
While the Roki Sasaki Yankees rumors will certainly pick up steam, a few key competitors and internal obstacles could impact the young Japanese phenom’s race.
Roki Sasaki: Yankees Fit
For the Yankees, Sasaki would be an instant boost for any pitching rotation. Carlos Rodon has struggled in the Bronx, Nestor Cortes has been inconsistent after a stellar 2022 and the team finds themselves without ace Gerrit Cole for at least a month. While the team has started off strong, adding a young, top flight pitcher would elevate the team to the next level.
⚠️Yankees are scouting NBP Ace Roki Sasaki, per Yahoo sports Japan. Thoughts? #NYY pic.twitter.com/Xmw22E781h
— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) April 1, 2024
Furthermore, the Yankees have made it abundantly clear that they enjoy Japanese talent. From Hideki Matsui to Masahiro Tanaka and Hiroki Kuroda, the Yankees have employed some of the biggest Japanese players to have played in MLB.
At just 22 years of age, Sasaki has established himself as one of Japan’s best pitchers with a 100 mph fastball and highly rated off-speed pitch that apparently is a mix of a forkball and a splitter . Continuing to fuel the Roki Sasaki Yankees rumors, the Bronx Bombers had a contingent of scouts at Sasaki’s first start of the season.
Last year, Sasaki compiled a 9-4 record with a spectacular 1.78 ERA while striking out 135 batters in just 91 innings pitched.
Roki Sasaki Yankees Competitors
The biggest challenge to singing the Japanese ace comes from two historic Yankees rivals. The Yankees weren’t the only team from MLB or even from the city of New York to have scouts at Sasaki’s game. After a quiet off-season, don’t be surprised to see Steve Cohen and the Mets look to spend heavily this year.
The Roki Sasaki Yankees rumors are perhaps being overshadowed by interest from a titan in the Los Angeles Dodgers. Last year, it became clear that the Dodgers had passed the Yankees in appeal for Japanese players and adding Sasaki would further solidify the Dodgers’ dominance in Japan.
According to Bob Nightengale, another Japanese star pitcher in Roki Sasaki has his eyes on the Dodgers this coming offseason 🤝 pic.twitter.com/TT01f887pZ
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) April 1, 2024
For Sasaki, he would have to decide if he wanted to team up with countrymen Shohei Ohtani and Yamamoto or if he would want to forge his own path, likely alone.
Roki Sasaki Posting Challenge
Perhaps the biggest detriment to the Roki Sasaki Yankees rumors comes not from another team in Major League Baseball, but instead across the Pacific Ocean. For the Chiba Lotte Marines are at a significant financial disadvantage if they post Sasaki this year.
Due to the posting agreement between Major League Baseball and it’s Japanese counterpart, Sasaki would classify as an amateur free agent until after the 2026 season. As a result, the contract for which Sasaki would be eligible would be lower in value than his performance would typically command. For the Marines, the lower the contract would mean a lower posting fee for Chiba Lotte.
While Sasaki has made it clear that he wants to make the move, the Marines could refuse to budge on their young superstar. For Sasaki, coming to the United States (or Toronto) would follow a similar path blazed by Shohei Ohtani, who also took a lesser contract with the Los Angeles Angels.
If you were Chiba Lotte, would you post Sasaki this year? If you were Sasaki, would you follow Yamamoto to the Los Angeles Dodgers? Let us know your thoughts on these questions and the Roki Sasaki Yankees rumors in the comments below!
Main image credit Embed from Getty Images
