The San Diego Padres may have an outside shot to sign Japanese sensation Roki Sasaki this offseason.
Padres given 2nd-best odds to land posted Japanese star Roki Sasaki
Sasaki is perhaps the most highly sought-after international talent in this year’s free agent class after his Nippon Professional Baseball league team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, announced he’d be posted this fall. Jon Heyman of the New York Post published the odds that the MLB landscape has to acquire the precocious ace, with the Padres coming in after only the Los Angeles Dodgers with 9-1 odds.
The Dodgers are currently looked at as the favorites to land Sasaki because of his ties to fellow compatriots Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The big market franchise being reigning World Series champions furthers their case. However, the Padres have another one of Sasaki’s countrymen in Yu Darvish that could hold sway in bringing the 23-year-old on board.
Sasaki was dominant on the mound in the NPB
Sasaki is such an attractive option because of the potency that he’s shown on the mound at his age. He owns the NPB record for most strikeouts in a game with 19 and brings a sparkling career 2.02 ERA and 0.883 WHIP to the negotiating table. Given his age, he can be locked down on a multi-year deal without a team having to offer a fortune the way they had to for Yamamoto last offseason.
Added to an already stout Padres rotation including stars Dylan Cease and Michael King, as well as the former five-time All-Star in Darvish, Sasaki could make San Diego an even bigger World Series threat in the National League next year.