Right-hander Roki Sasaki, 22, is expected to continue pushing his current team, the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball, to post him next offseason for Major League Baseball teams' consideration, according to a Sponichi Annex report shared by Yahoo! Japan. For those unaware, the posting system serves as the transfer portal that connects NPB and MLB.
The agreement between the leagues stipulates that players who are under a certain age and service-time threshold are classified as international amateur free agents -- a designation that limits their earning potential. In turn, that limits the financial compensation that the player's NPB team receives. Here's the breakdown of that posting fee, which is based on the player's contract value.
- Contract worth less than $25 million: 20% of contract value
- Contract worth $25 million to $50 million: $5 million plus 17.5% of amount over $25 million
- Contract worth more than $50 million: $9.275 million plus 15% of amount over $50 million
CBS Sports recently detailed how that conflict has created some confusion on when, exactly, Sasaki will be permitted to make the leap to MLB -- the crux being that the Marines have millions upon millions of reasons to hold onto him until after the 2026 season, when he ages out of that "amateur" status. Sasaki, for his part, reportedly wants to come over as soon as he can, even if it means that he follows in Shohei Ohtani's footsteps by signing for significantly less money than a player of his talent level merits.
CBS Sports also provided the following scouting report on Sasaki, who rose to global fame during the 2022 season when he struck out 19 batters in a perfect game effort as a 20-year-old.
Sasaki has two massive offerings, an upper-90s rising fastball and a devastating splitter/forkball, and a shockingly good feel for throwing strikes based on his age and his stuff. He's struck out 34% of the batters he's faced as a professional, all the while walking just 5% of them. That 29% margin, for reference, would've ranked second in the majors in 2023, behind only Atlanta Braves flamethrower Spencer Strider. Sasaki does need to improve his durability. He was limited to 91 innings last year by an oblique injury, and to date he's cleared the century mark just once. Otherwise, Sasaki can rightly claim to already be one of the planet's most talented pitchers.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are expected to be one of Sasaki's top suitors whenever the Marines do post him. The Dodgers have signed two fellow Team Japan members already this winter: two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani and right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto. To the chagrin of other teams, Dodgers executive Andrew Friedman was spotted at Team Japan workouts prior to last spring's World Baseball Classic, providing him with the opportunity to get an up-close and personal read on Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Sasaki.
