Roki Sasaki isn’t expected to decide on a team until mid-January, so despite recent reports, the Red Sox still have a realistic chance at the Japanese phenom.
Since the end of the MLB winter meetings, the 23-year-old reportedly met with the New York clubs and the Chicago Cubs in Los Angeles. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow reportedly flew to Japan to watch Sasaki live, but Boston has not formally met the pitcher in person.
The Red Sox are a viable destination for Sasaki, though. According to his agent Joel Wolfe, Sasaki is keeping an eye on the club’s pitching development. Pitching coach Andrew Bailey showed in his first year that he’s one of Boston’s strongest assets.
Sasaki also is looking at a club’s history with Japanese baseball players, according to Wolfe, per the New York Post’s Jon Heyman. This arguably is another positive for the Red Sox. Koji Uehara, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Junichi Tazawa were members of World Series teams and remain fan favorites. Breslow was part of the set-up rotation with Tazawa and Uehara, so he has experience working with Japanese players. Takashi Saito and Hideo Nomo were other Japanese players who found success in a Red Sox uniform.
Sasaki qualifies as an international free agent so money won’t be an issue. The only thing the Red Sox would need to do is come up with a great pitch to convince Sasaki that Boston is the best place for his MLB career. They’re reportedly “very serious” about the “Monster of the Reiwa Era,” so it wouldn’t be surprising if they met with him; Sasaki is meeting with teams in LA before he heads back home to Japan for Christmas but will conduct more meetings after.
It will be tough competition, but Sasaki’s desires continue to line up well for Boston.
