If the Boston Red Sox are interested in pursuing Japan’s Roki Sasaki, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and the rest of the front office will need to wait.
Boston scouted Sasaki weeks before the 2024 regular season reached its end. The 23-year-old’s timeline is now definite as MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced Sasaki is expected to sign as part of the 2025 international signing class, per Evan Drellich of The Athletic, delaying any deal until Jan. 15.
“It kind of looks like the way it’s going to shake out that the signing there, just because of the timing, will happen in the new pool period,” Manfred said, per ESPN’s Jorge Castillo.
From there, all 30 big league clubs will have 45 days to negotiate with Sasaki and if no deal is struck, the right-hander will return to Japan. Considering the favorable market for which Sasaki is entering, it’s highly unlikely the right-hander will be pitching in Nippon Professional Baseball next season. The Red Sox are just one of several teams suitable for Sasaki’s services, so even though negotiations will have to wait until after Christmas and New Year’s, Sasaki’s patience will still be rewarded.
Sasaki went 10-5 with a 2.38 ERA in 18 appearances last season for the Chiba Lotte Marines. He is most known for a fastball capable of reaching 100 mph and for tossing a 16-strikeout perfect game in 2022. Boston could use a rotation boost, especially after Tuesday’s development in which Nick Pivetta rejected the franchise’s $21.05 million qualifying offer to test free agency instead.
That means the Red Sox, who have Brayan Bello, Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Lucas Giolito and Garrett Whitlock, will have plenty to consider. Giolito and Whitlock are returning from injuries as durability plagued the Red Sox tremendously throughout 2024 and removing Pivetta from the equation takes away a significant chunk of innings — Pivetta logged the fourth-most innings (145 2/3) among all Boston pitchers in 2024. It’ll be up to Breslow and company to decide whether or not those factors are enough to make an aggressive pursuit of Sasaki.
Sasaki compiled a 29-15 record with a solid 2.10 ERA, averaging 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings, through his four-year career in NPB.
