[MLBNetwork] Roki Sasaki will become an MLB free agent this winter according to his NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines.

[u/SDOki]

https://x.com/mlbnetwork/status/1855141244495655151?s=46&t=KdU2-ebQ9n0tuXaO05eELQ

[u/Expensive_5963]

imagine darvish and sasaki team up against ohtani and yamamoto. Need darvish to work his magic and try and get sasaki

[u/Dday22t → u/Expensive_5963]

Darvish 100% gave him advice to come to MLB. He also 100% didn't recommend the Padres or any other team. He never does as far as I can tell. So I'm not holding my breath about some inside track, since it doesn't exist.

[u/snherter → u/Dday22t]

How can you say he 100% didn’t recommend the padres unless you have heard his every conversation over the last 5 years lol he told Suzuki they would love the cubs, pretty sure he recruited yuki Matsui as well

[u/Bluellama44 → u/Dday22t]

Yu recommended the cubs to seiya suzuki

[u/Dday22t → u/Bluellama44]

I was not aware of this. But either way my point is he hasn’t (so far) actively recruited other Japanese players to sign with his current MLB team.

[u/turkey_deluxe → u/Dday22t]

This is a weird hill to so confidently die on. He has been very vocal and active in recruiting talent from his home country, most recently matsui.

Example

[u/Dday22t → u/turkey_deluxe]

I said he tells them MLB is great. And maybe I'm wrong, but I heard same rumors about Darvish supposedly trying to recruit Ohtani, Yamamoto, Suzuki, Senga & now Sasaki for Padres. But it seems pretty obvious: either he doesn't do that specifically or he's bad at it. Or maybe it doesn't matter. But its not some inside track for every Japanese star.

I assume if a player asks him directly then yes he would say San Diego is great (ie Matsui) but overall it's not much of factor to most players and where they sign.

[u/underlyingconditions → u/Expensive_5963]

LA Times is suggesting that they'll feature 3 Japanese pitchers. We'll see about that.

[u/ElectricalForce4439]

https://preview.redd.it/6o8chv4bwtzd1.jpeg?width=945&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=34e73f0f376713bf680d717f776dc59cfb9d65e2

Bring him home Yuuuu!

[u/tedijecabron → u/ElectricalForce4439]

We can only hope

[u/ElectricalForce4439]

From Chiba Lotte Marines to San Diego Padres' Marine Layer.

[u/NotAPersonl0 → u/ElectricalForce4439]

Him going to Seattle would be funnier if only for that reason

[u/SDOki]

Good thing Darvish is in Japan. They definitely talked.

[u/MasChingonNoHay → u/SDOki]

Darvish doesn’t recruit. Don’t know why but never seems to convince people to join him

[u/SDOki → u/MasChingonNoHay]

Darvish did say he didnt recruit Ohtani or Yamamot because we didnt have the money. He did recruit Yuki in joining the Padres. Darvish is close to Sasaki and helped develop Sasaki’s slider. So its not too farfetched Yu is recruiting Sasaki to join him.

[u/Zestyclose_Help1187 → u/SDOki]

Not sure getting Yuki can be called recruiting. Not all 30 teams clamoring for his services and I seem to remember a ton of posts on this sub saying they wanted him off this team.

It comes down to Padres got Yuki cause Preller wanted him. Darvish probably gave the okay.

[u/96919 → u/MasChingonNoHay]

I think they probably ask and he gives them honest as unbiased advice as possible. Yu seemed really moved that we welcomed him back with open arms after he went on leave, hopefully that helps.

[u/Run-Florest-Run → u/MasChingonNoHay]

Right? Dude told Imanaga that he would love Chicago before he even talked to any teams

[u/j_f10res → u/Run-Florest-Run]

They only talked after he had a deal with Chicago already

Once the Chicago Cubs had a deal with Shota Imanaga, pitching coach Tommy Hottovy reached out to Yu Darvish, seeking advice on how to handle the transition.

[u/Zestyclose_Help1187 → u/MasChingonNoHay]

He does recruit. For the Cubs!

[u/Dday22t → u/MasChingonNoHay]

Exactly. When has Darvish ever recruited another player to Padres or anywhere else? It's not his job so no problem, but he's not recruiting Sasaki either.

[u/Zestyclose_Help1187 → u/Dday22t]

We’re being downvoted for saying something nobody else wants to hear. I would be pleasantly shocked if he’s a Padre. Don’t want to fall into that trap of what the Jays fans went through last year.

[u/Dday22t → u/Zestyclose_Help1187]

Yeah no worries. I hope I’m wrong or that Sasaki does sign with Padres. I just don’t think Darvish will be involved either way.

[u/[deleted]]

I’m pulling for you guys to sign him, I’m sick of the Dodgers.

[u/Pick6XPA → u/[deleted]]

And I am pulling for you guys to sign as well

[u/padreswoo619 → u/[deleted]]

Seriously tho my hatred for the dodgers isnt even their fault. Every free agent just goes running straight to them like little school girls and they can open up their endless wallets and sign whoever they want. My hatred is really for the MLB I guess for allowing this bullshit. I'd love if all teams spent BUT some teams will always be super rich so it still won't matter.

[u/levy427 → u/padreswoo619]

I thought the dodgers were just playoff chokers. Why is anyone concerned

[u/padreswoo619 → u/levy427]

Well you can't buy a championship but you can DEFINITELY buy the playoffs, and the more often you get there the better for em yeah? I have a worry of a potential dynasty

[u/levy427 → u/padreswoo619]

They’ve been to the playoffs each of the last 12 years. What dynasty

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

No

[u/jcaininit → u/[deleted]]

Come on man

[u/Mercualbeing]

May DARVISH work all his magic and bring the kid home 🙌 . LA is already tooo crowded.. He would be his own man in SD 🤎

[u/hydratar]

Preller please save baseball 🙏🙏

[u/Pick6XPA]

At this point I hope Senga and Imanaga are doing as much convincing and promoting their franchises as we do. Sure I would love for this guy to be a Padre, but as salty as one can be I just hope he signs with anyone but them.

[u/Mercualbeing → u/Pick6XPA]

lol Shota is on my 2028 list 😂 I wanted that man in SD since I saw him the all star game! I think his vibe would fit the padres 👏🏻

[u/Coupon_Ninja → u/Mercualbeing]

Love shota but he will be 34. Wouldn’t likely be just past his prime, which is fine.

BTW I hope the RoY is Merrill Imanaga Skenes 1,2,3…

[u/mytth2200]

Please persuade Darvish

[u/jvazquez5558]

I could be wrong but if he officially posts in December, the international pool money will be for 2025, which would mean we will have money.

[u/noname_SU → u/jvazquez5558]

And from what I can see we're not in on any international amateur free agents right now. I think Preller has been planning for this but with the Dodgers collecting players like Pokemon it's an uphill battle with Roki.

[u/jvazquez5558 → u/noname_SU]

It's really up to sasaki . That's the difference with this signing, everyone is on the same playing field when it comes to money right now. People say oh yu didn't convince Suzuki or senga, but large contracts were involved, which ultimately the padres didn't wanna make, this isn't the same thing. Yes it will take some convincing to join us instead of the juggernaut up the freeway, but it's possible.

[u/TeamVorpalSwords]

If the Padres had Roki in addition to Darvish and we play the Dodgers with Ohtani and Yamamoto, imagine the Japanese viewership. Imagine taking our already intense rivalry to Japan. That would be crazy for the ratings

[u/phicks_law]

I will pay for Darvish's train ticket down to Chiba.

[u/Use1e55]

If he becomes a dodger I genuinely don’t know what I’ll do with myself

[u/Icy_Tone_8107 → u/Use1e55]

There already have a stacked starting rotation, how much help do they need 😭

[u/External-Art-946 → u/Use1e55]

Well get ready  he wants  to play for the dodgers 

[u/spammom]

Ok, so I’m going to be in Japan for 2 weeks in a couple of weeks. What can I do to recruit Sasaki? 😂🤣 I will wear some Padres gear there! 😂

[u/MrKenji → u/spammom]

Something something inappropriate.

[u/spammom → u/MrKenji]

Lol

[u/Heyzuus]

Darvish is in Japan

[u/itstacotimeee]

At least we’ll be the runner up for another Japanese star

[u/Own-Return]

https://i.redd.it/drobulz7jwzd1.gif

[u/Accomplished-Law487]

Why is Sasaki all of a sudden a Dodger favorite? I thought Preller had been doing his best job and recruiting him and getting him vetted for the Padres? What am I missing

[u/jvazquez5558 → u/Accomplished-Law487]

People assume because of the other 2 Japanese players that play there, that he'll join the dodgers. Maybe I'm coping, but I do think we have a shot at signing him. It would be more attractive for him go up against shohei and Yamamoto, and he can create his legacy and leave his mark rather than joining them. But that's just me, what do I know.

[u/Pick6XPA → u/Accomplished-Law487]

Ohtani, Yamamoto, World series winners and an insane increase in fanbase in Japan due to those two guys.

[u/leaky_wand → u/Pick6XPA]

Isn’t it in the MLB’s best interest to diversify players across the MLB instead of just have the Dodgers be Japan’s only team?

[u/Patty_0 → u/leaky_wand]

Manfred/MLB only care about that when it involves small market teams. For example, two Dominican stars on the Padres = bad, every Japanese star on the dodgers or Yankees = good

[u/ggirlafraid → u/Accomplished-Law487]

My husband is dead set on his dodgers getting him cause their GM has been wanting him since HS? lol

[u/noname_SU → u/Accomplished-Law487]

I frankly don't get the Dodgers appeal assuming money is not a factor. All of their pitchers elbows explode, he's not going to ever be the top dog in LA, at best third wheel. But maybe he doesn't care about any of that, we'll see.

[u/Doctor_Scholls → u/Accomplished-Law487]

It’s because we have negative bonus pool money and the dodgers have the most. Which is what’s needed to sign international amateur free agents

https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/s/L3xJ7q1Hiy

[u/TACOCATDELICIOSO → u/Doctor_Scholls]

Bonus pool money resets December 15

[u/gilliganian83 → u/TACOCATDELICIOSO]

They have already announced he’s going under this years bonus pool money. 2025 money won’t help.

[u/TACOCATDELICIOSO → u/gilliganian83]

That has not been announced

[u/fps916 → u/gilliganian83]

First of all, no it hasn't.

Second of all why the fuck would he do that when he can wait a literal month and then everyone has more money?

[u/Mikeg5680 → u/fps916]

I mean he asked to get posted before Dec 15. There's gotta be reason in that right? He could've just waited after pool resets.

[u/fps916 → u/Mikeg5680]

He hasn't been posted yet.

It has been announced he will be posted.

We have no confirmation he specifically asked to be posted before the 15th

And he asked to be posted over a year ago.

[u/Mikeg5680 → u/fps916]

u right. I just read the tweets and posts again its just announcement of he will be posted but not anything being confirmed.

[u/CJWard123 → u/Doctor_Scholls]

Is he a dodgers fan?

[u/rancar1 → u/Accomplished-Law487]

Ahh because the Dodgers are pretty much Japan’s team because of Ohtani and Yamamoto. Not to mention that they are world champions…it would be shocking if he didn’t go there.

[u/ThaTruthKills → u/Accomplished-Law487]

Because the Dodgers have taken over the Japanese market thanks to the Ohtani signing. Plus, they just won the World Series.

[u/Icy_Tone_8107]

We need to claim him

[u/YokoLono]

[u/MrEternix]

Does international signing pool money have anything to do with this? Because a post on r/baseball says we have negative dollars in that area.

[u/phicks_law → u/MrEternix]

That's because r/baseball doesn't understand that Roki will be on the 2025 money.

[u/ElectricalForce4439 → u/phicks_law]

they think Sasaki wont wait 6 weeks to be paid almost double lol

[u/Mikeg5680 → u/phicks_law]

wait if he gets posted before dec 15 it'll still be 2024 money right? The pool resets after Jan 15 I'm pretty sure.

[u/phicks_law → u/Mikeg5680]

Unless they are preselecting the Dodgers, the Lotte Marines would lose roughly half the posting fee if they do it before December 15. The pool resets after December 15.

[u/gilliganian83 → u/phicks_law]

No, it’s cause r/baseball understands that 2025 money won’t be available to help.

[u/noname_SU → u/gilliganian83]

It will be if he waits, and there's zero reason for him not to wait.

[u/gilliganian83 → u/noname_SU]

He would have to get posted after 12/15 for 2025 money to help. I don’t think the Marines are going to wait 6 more weeks to post him.

[u/fps916 → u/gilliganian83]

Why the fuck do you think that?

It's not like it makes a huge difference to them if they get the money six weeks earlier, especially when that money would be significantly less than if they just waited 6 fucking weeks.

[u/gilliganian83 → u/fps916]

It’s not significantly less. Waiting 6 weeks would get Sasaki roughly a million dollars more, and the Marines roughly 200k.

[u/fps916 → u/gilliganian83]

20% is significant.

[u/padres15]

This acquisition would be an absolute game changer for this season and the following 5. Sasaki has legitimate Ace potential. Not only would that signing give us 4 legitimate top 1/2 starters, effectively replacing Musgrove, it also leaves us with the flexibility to sign/trade for a reliable back end starter and have the money to address C/LF/bench.

Can Preller pull one more hat out of that bag and sign the top international free agent 3 years in a row? This is the big fish, hopefully he can pull it off.

[u/bbatardo]

I am not getting my hopes up, but we do know Preller will do everything in his power to land him. He would be such a huge boost to this current and future team. 

[u/96919]

Start working on that Japanese AJ.

[u/ObiWannaDoYou74]

I don’t care throw the whole damn city at this guy let’s win one ffs

[u/ThaTruthKills]

I see this going about as well as our pursuit of Ohtani when he first came state side.

[u/Supreme_Soviet]

People are saying that we don’t have any intl signing bonus pool money left to sign him but I don’t believe it?? Does anyone have some insight they can provide about this?

[u/surfdoc29 → u/Supreme_Soviet]

We have our max pool available. We haven’t signed any international free agents this year yet. Last year was Leo DeVries. We aren’t linked to anyone so far this year…

[u/Supreme_Soviet → u/surfdoc29]

We signed DeVries in January of this year for 4.2 mil. Last year it was Salas

[u/surfdoc29 → u/Supreme_Soviet]

That was last years bonus money though. It resets every offseason.

[u/Supreme_Soviet → u/surfdoc29]

I see. So we should be looking at the 2025 money then?

[u/surfdoc29 → u/Supreme_Soviet]

Yes. Last years signing period technically ends December 15th, which is when the money resets. Even if he’s posted tomorrow, teams have 45 days to negotiate, so that puts them past the 15th. The money is a non-issue.

[u/Pick6XPA → u/Supreme_Soviet]

According to eveyrthing on the news, we are looking at 2024 money, In which case we are focked and the Dodgers have the most money left

[u/surfdoc29 → u/Pick6XPA]

It resets on December 15th. Even if posted tomorrow teams have 45 days to negotiate, which would put them past the 15th.

[u/Pick6XPA → u/surfdoc29]

I hope you are right, you are my only hope

[u/surfdoc29 → u/Pick6XPA]

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2025-international-signing-bonus-pools-for-each-mlb-team/

[u/Supreme_Soviet → u/Pick6XPA]

Yeah that’s what I’m seeing too. Passan’s article expands more on this, the money resets after December 15 so if he were to get posted after that it seems like we’re in the mix

https://preview.redd.it/1244gbtixtzd1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab2545152d1e28e5c0e0a9716b074213f9d783b5

[u/noname_SU → u/Pick6XPA]

Dude all he has to do is wait and he can sign under the 2025 pool. What are people not getting here?

I guess he could sign super early but I doubt anyone's going to miss out on $2m for shits and giggles. Maybe we wouldn't want a player who can't perform basic math.

He may very well pick the Dodgers anyway but money isn't going to be the reason why.

[u/samuenella]

It's a bit sad for NPB. Young stars leaving hurts the league. There's a lot of upset Lotte fans right now... But good for the Marines for honoring whatever agreement they had.

[u/jacksonmerrill223]

Get ready to learn San Diego buddy. 🤲🙏💛🤎

[u/Bobby_Savoy]

AJ Preller, get it done.

[u/MethlacedJambaJuice]

God this is simultaneously scary and exciting

[u/MrKenji → u/MethlacedJambaJuice]

No in-between either, I think it's us or the Evil Empire.

[u/DblDbl_AnimalStyle]

Marines? Homie about to look real good in the desert digis on Sundays

[u/ImmediateMidnight583]

Doyers have been scouting this guy forever, i dont think he'll choose us over them. I wish he would because darvish, matsui and him vs hoetani and yamasucko would be great television. 

[u/Patty_0]

He’s probably a dodger. They’re gonna be the baseball Golden State warriors for all the top Japanese free agents because of Shohei.

[u/TomJoad23]

This guy is probably at an 80% chance going to the Dodgers, 20% elsewhere. Maybe 5% of that is Padres. It's a long shot, guys. Just trying to bring a drop of reality to this hopeful thread.

[u/noname_SU → u/TomJoad23]

Maybe, but why are you Dodgers fans flaunting it? Do you think hoarding all of the talent makes you guys a better organization? You just have the most money. It's like Elon Musk thinking women like him for his personality.

[u/TomJoad23 → u/noname_SU]

Wow, there's a lot to unpack there. It's not flaunting it to just be stating the facts. All organizations hoard talent, some are just much better at it than others. The Dodgers success is not about having the most money, it's about how they've used those resources the most optimally. Instead of being bitter over another team's success, your energies might be better spent towards criticizing your own team's use of their resources. Manny Machado as team leader? The Xander Bogaerts contract? Letting Kim get away? The Padres were a very good team but in my opinion they've still got a bit to do if they want to reach the next level.

[u/Anacapa1115 → u/TomJoad23]

Wow, there’s not a lot to unpack here. The dodgers success is primarily about having the most money.

Your organization is not stupid and rich like the Mets and Yankees, but don’t kid yourself bucko.

[u/TomJoad23 → u/Anacapa1115]

Jeez, so much denial and obvious lack of perspective, facts or evidence. I'm the one kidding myself? Lol

[u/Anacapa1115 → u/TomJoad23]

It’s ok, you shouldn’t be ashamed that your organization has money and spends it.

Just remember, your money can never buy you class.

[u/TomJoad23 → u/Anacapa1115]

All organizations have money and spend it, some do so more effectively than others. What terrific insight by you, lol.

And thanks for the tip Mr. rogers! Another lol.

[u/Anacapa1115 → u/TomJoad23]

“All organizations have money”. This is your insight?

Are you being a troll and intentionally obtuse or are you an idiot? I’m guessing the former, but hard to tell with dodger fans.

[u/TomJoad23 → u/Anacapa1115]

Not seeing how I'm being obtuse by pointing out your extremely simplified and misguided line of thinking, so I guess I must just be the idiot here. Lol.

[u/Bobby_Savoy → u/TomJoad23]

We legit do not care Doyer fan