NEW YORK (AP) — Roki Sasaki's posting will likely extend into the 2025 international signing period, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Wednesday, allowing teams as much as $7,555,500 to sign the prized Japanese pitcher.
“It kind of looks like the way it’s going to shake out, that the signing there, just because the timing, will happen in the new pool period,” Manfred said Wednesday during a news conference following an owners' meeting.
If Sasaki signed this year, his maximum bonus would be $2,502,500 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Pacific League's Chiba Lotte Marines said on Nov. 9 they will post the hard-throwing 23-year-old right-hander. Under the agreement between Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball, the posting period runs from Nov. 1 until Dec. 15 and players have 45 days following the posting to reach an agreement. Sasaki has not yet been posted.
Sasaki was 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 games this year, striking out 129 hitters in 111 innings. During his 2023 start for Japan against the Czech Republic in the World Baseball Classic, 21 of his pitches were over 100 mph.
Because Sasaki is younger than 25, he will be classified by MLB as an international amateur free agent subject to bonus pool limits. Chiba will receive a posting fee from the acquiring MLB team equal to 25% of the signing bonus.
Baseball's international signing period runs from Jan. 15 until Dec. 15 and most teams allocated most or all of their bonus pool this year to Latin American prospects in January. The Dodgers have kept the most available money left in their 2024 signing bonus pool, causing some officials on other teams to speculate whether a deal with Sasaki was already in place. On the day before the World Series began, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman refused to answer a question about the amount left available.
“We’re going to see what happens there,” Manfred said. “If there’s any reason to believe that there was a violation of one of our rules, you can rest assured that we will thoroughly investigate and try to get to the bottom.”
Baltimore has $2,147,300 remaining this year, the New York Yankees $1,487,200 and San Francisco $1,247,500. The other teams have under $1 million left, including Tampa Bay and Texas with no money available and eight other clubs with less than $100,000.
In the 2025 period, the Athletics, Cincinnati, Detroit, Miami, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Seattle and Tampa Bay each have $7,555,500 available.
Arizona, Baltimore, Cleveland, Colorado, Kansas City and Pittsburgh have $6,908,600 apiece, followed by Atlanta, Boston, the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, the Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets and Yankees, Philadelphia, San Diego, Texas, Toronto and Washington at $6,261,600.
Houston and St. Louis each have $5,646,200, and the Dodgers and San Francisco have $5,146,200.
If a team has an unofficial deal with a Latin American prospect for a 2025 contract, the club could back out of the deal to free up pool space to try to sign Sasaki.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Ronald Blum, The Associated Press
