Nippon Professional Baseball Chiba Rakuten Marines officially releases right-hander before Riki Saaki Last month, Major League Baseball investigated major league clubs before authorizing Sasaki to release the information. Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reported this afternoon that MLB’s investigation is to “ensure protocol protocols are being followed” and involves multiple interviews. Tonight’s report from The Athletic’s Fabian Aldaya, Dennis Lin, Patrick Mooney, Ken Rosenthal and Will Salmon adds more details, pointing to the main focus of the league’s investigation Not Sasaki himself, but the Marine Corps. Both reports stressed that the league had found no evidence to substantiate rumors of an illegal arrangement.
It may seem surprising that the league’s investigation is focusing on the Marines, but The Athletic’s report notes that the current job assignment system limits the Marines’ payout to 25% of Sasaki’s total bonus. It’s a weak financial incentive for a club to part ways with a star player, and more than represents a step back for a player with a hefty release fee like this. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Seiya Suzuki The Nippon Ham Fighters, who have earned their club $20MM in release fees in recent years, were able to collect $20MM when Ohtani signed with the Angels as an international amateur in December 2017 under the previous release system. Publishing fee in exchange for Ohtani’s services.
While MLB’s investigation found no wrongdoing by either party, speculation surrounding the possibility of a handshake agreement between Sasaki and the Dodgers was loud enough to prompt Wasserman’s agent, Joel, who represents the right-handed talent. Wolfe vehemently denies it. As reported by The Athletic, clubs were unsure about Sasaki’s target throughout the time he released the information, as teams like the Mariners and Red Sox were unable to meet with the 23-year-old , and the Cubs, Yankees and other big-market teams, the Mets did so despite some thinking he might prefer to avoid the spotlight.
Despite the confusion, Sasaki had narrowed the field down to three finalists earlier this week: the Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays, with each team later visiting Sasaki in their respective cities and Start preparing their offer. According to The Athletic, San Diego told Sasaki’s camp that they were willing to make trades to maximize their bonus pool and provide all of that money to Sasaki, while the Dodgers made a trade with the Phillies to add extra money in the game. Prize pool funds they landed Sasaki. However, the Blue Jays were particularly aggressive in pursuing Sasaki.
While all three clubs were clearly willing to add significant bonus pool money to bring in Sasaki, Toronto secured $2MM in international bonus pool space from the Guardians by assuming the majority of the center fielder’s money Miles Straw Although there was no actual agreement with the right-hander for the next two years. The impetus behind the trade ultimately didn’t work out for Toronto as Sasaki ended up choosing Los Angeles. Still, The Athletic’s report suggests the Blue Jays believe Straw is a valuable addition in his own right, and the money they’ll spend to bring him in won’t be prohibitive as they continue to look for ways to upgrade their roster. . It is worth noting that the center fielder Dalton Washoe Not expected to be ready for Opening Day, the addition of Straw could provide the club with some depth while Varsio recovers.
