DALLAS – A few teams had already sent in video and powerpoint presentations for Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki as of Tuesday morning, his agent Joel Wolfe said. And the 23-year-old flame thrower’s free agency has only just begun.
In anticipation of Sasaki posting, which became official on Monday the Cubs have been preparing their own material to submit in the first stage of Sasaki’s free agency, sources said.
“We didn't give teams a hard deadline to submit that information because we want them to be able to put the time in to do it right,” Wolf said Tuesday.
Sasaki could be a fit for pretty much any team. Because he’s transitioning to MLB before turning 25 and logging six years in Nippon Professional Baseball, he’ll be signing a minor-league deal with a signing bonus capped by international bonus pool limitations.
Wolfe estimated that at least half the 30 teams scouted the right-hander in Japan this year. And the widespread interest was palpable in the winter meetings media room at the Hilton Anatole on Tuesday, as beat writers from all over the country, in addition to national and international media members, swarmed Wolfe for a news conference specifically on Sasaki.
Wolfe said Tuesday morning that Sasaki was en route to the United States and they would meet this week. This early in the process, Sasaki’s free agency priorities are unclear.
“I've known Roki for a little over two years now,” Wolfe said. “And as I've gotten to know him, it's been a little bit difficult to really ascertain what his decision-making process would be for choosing a team, because his focus has predominantly been on whether or not he's going to be able to post.”
Wolfe said he’s at least gathered that Sasaki has paid attention to overall team success and how his World Baseball Classic teammates on MLB teams have performed. He’s sought insight from foreign players on his Nippon Professional baseball team, the Chiba Lotte Marines.
“He asked a lot of questions about whether, about comfortability, about pitching development,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe, however, could present both sides of the argument for factors like market size and teaming up with fellow Japanese players versus being a trailblazer. He said Sasaki has never brought up a geographical preference.
The Cubs, who in recent years have prioritized establishing themselves as a destination for top free agents from Japan, can point to the success of right fielder Seiya Suzuki and left-hander Shota Imanaga. They can offer the familiarity of a WBC teammate in Imanaga. They’ve built and refined a system to help Japanese players with the off-the-field transition.
“I'm most proud of the things that we've done off the field, because they're just less obvious,” Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins said of what the team learned about pitches to free agents. “But in terms of what's most important, it's, how do we help these players be the best versions of themselves?”
Wolfe said he hopes to begin meeting with teams next week. The first round will be at a central location.
“As far as the process going forward now, I wanted to make sure that we left it a little open-ended,” Wolfe said. “Having been through this before with other players, I didn't want to have some type of … predetermined system.”
Sasaki plans to go back to Japan for the holidays. Afterwards, they’re remaining flexible. He could travel to visit select teams in their own cities. He could continue meetings from the central location.
“We're going to leave it open-ended, depending on how the first round of meetings go, how many meetings he actually has, how many total meetings he plans to have.”
Sasaki has 45 days to negotiate with teams. The current international signing period ends Dec. 15 and the next opens on Jan. 15.
“Technically, he could sign immediately,” Wolfe said, “but we don't anticipate that happening.”
