The San Diego Padres are not short on confidence that they’ll land Japanese sensation Roki Sasaki in free agency.
The Padres are among the several teams in the hunt to sign Sasaki after he was posted to the MLB by the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball on Monday. The 23-year-old talent could announce his decision on where he’ll debut in the big leagues after Jan. 15 as a member of the class of 2025.
While the Los Angeles Dodgers have been labeled as the biggest threat to San Diego in the sweepstakes, Padres manager Mike Shildt is sure that his team has already done, and will do what it takes to bring Sasaki on board.
Mike Shildt says Roki Sasaki will be a Padre this offseason
As a recent guest on MLB Network Radio, Shildt proclaimed that the international superstar will don the brown and yellow at the end of the day (h/t ClutchPoints’ Dan Fappiano):
“We should be very legitimate contenders. We fully expect to be right in the mix and actually at the end of the day, have Sasaki a Padre. AJ [Preller] has done a tremendous job, the organization has done a tremendous job making sure we’re relevant internationally. Our roster speaks to it. We’re a multi-cultural club.”
“We’ve got a lot of in roads to Sasaki to make that happen,” Shildt continued. “I know we’re going to put the full court press to make it happen. We’re very optimistic.”
Padres could allocate international pool money to Sasaki
Should Sasaki forbear to make his decision until after Jan 15., the Padres will be in line to offer him as much as needed from the $6.26 million in international pool money they’ll have for 2025.
Padres have talent & all-around culture to reel in Sasaki
San Diego has as talented a roster as there is in the Majors. The Dodgers may be reigning World Series champions, but Shildt almost led his Padres to a victory over L.A. in the 2024 NLDS, losing 3-2 in their tight five-game clash. Sasaki could be the difference maker for them next time around. San Diego can also offer the standout flamethrower the lifestyle and club culture he’s seeking.
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Plus, Sasaki’s close relationship with his compatriot and Padres star pitcher Yu Darvish figures to be one of the franchise’s biggest inroads to reel the former in, even over his fellow compatriots Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the Dodgers.
As a pitcher who is capable of throwing a 100-plus mph fastball, with a perfect game under his belt and a career 2.02 ERA to show for, Sasaki could enter the Padres’ fold from day one and help them hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy next fall. Shildt doesn’t envision another scenario playing out that’s not in their favor.
