Wasserman’s agent, Joel Wolfe, met with the media at this week’s winter meetings in Dallas to discuss a variety of topics, headlined by an overview of the newly released plans for the right-hander Riki Saaki. MLBTR was also present when Wolfe discussed 23-year-old ace Sasaki of the Chiba Rakuten Marines in Japan, who is now eligible to negotiate with all major league teams.
Due to his age, Sasaki must abide by MLB’s international amateur guidelines; more specifically, that means he can only sign a minor league deal and receive bonuses consistent with his team’s league-allocated hard-cap bonus pool. If Sasaki had waited two years to reach the majors, he would have been 25 years old and therefore eligible as an amateur, which could have netted him a contract comparable to that of compatriot and current Dodgers righty. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12 years, $325).
Asked why Sasaki chose to take the job now rather than hit the majors as a true free agent in two years — potentially leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the table — Wolfe said, “Everyone you can imagine has been Ask him the question” and try to answer it to the best of his ability.
“That’s a hard question to answer. Some of it is Japanese culture. Some of it is just Roki Sasaki. There are no absolutes in baseball, and in Roki’s view, there are no absolutes in life. … He doesn’t take anything for granted. As in It’s not a given that he’ll get Yamamoto’s contract in two years, as some people in baseball think, and sometimes baseball just doesn’t work out, you look at the prevalence of injuries that pitchers have. You could have Tommy John surgery. He had two shoulder injuries and things might not go your way.
“The other thing is that it’s been his dream to play in the major leagues since he was in school. He grew up idolizing players like that. Yu Darvish, Masahiro Tanaka, Daisuke Matsuzaka. This is what he always wanted to do when he went [the World Baseball Classic] Being around some major leaguers, it really had an impact on him. He was convinced ‘this is what I want to do as soon as possible.
As for what Sasaki will prioritize in free agency, Wolfe was more vague. He said he and his clients have not discussed those factors in detail because Sasaki’s main focus has long been whether he would be appointed. Wolf noted that some teams have submitted presentations to Sasaki, but in-person meetings have not yet begun. Wolf himself said he had seen “three or four” presentations that had been submitted, but added that he expected more to come. When asked, Wolfe replied that at least half the league did.
Wolff naturally declined to reveal which teams submitted initial demos or to personally seek out his customers. Sasaki’s focus right now is simply getting to know the team, organization and city he will choose. He is scheduled to arrive in the United States this week, and after reviewing introductory demos from interested teams, Sasaki and Wolfe will host teams at a central location for a first round of in-person visits starting next week. More team visits will follow – perhaps some in the cities where the finalists are based – but Sasaki also plans to return to Japan for a week or two during the upcoming holidays.
When asked specifically whether Sasaki would consider a small market, Wolff said he might be interested, but stressed he hadn’t confirmed much with clients yet:
“Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think there’s an argument to be made that a small to mid-market team might be better for him because he’s from Japan, had a soft landing, and didn’t have a great experience with the media – probably Yes. I’m not saying will Yes, but I don’t know what he would do. Going into smaller markets might be beneficial to him, but I don’t really know how he feels about it since I haven’t had a chance to discuss it with him yet [at great length]”.
Wolfe has spoken out several times about Japanese media coverage of Sasaki, but once unprompted, calling it “a little bit unfair in my opinion personally” and candidly admitting that it can sometimes be detrimental to the young right-hander Have a negative impact:
“There was a lot of negative perception of him in the media because he expressed interest in playing for Major League Baseball at such a young age. In Japan, that was considered very disrespectful and kind of swimming against the tide. It happened. A lot of things. A lot of people have jumped on board and started false rumors about him and his family, which is bad for his mental state.
Wolfe also stressed that wherever Sasaki lands, it won’t be a purely short-term financial decision:
“With such a small difference in bonus pool amounts, my advice to him would be: don’t make a decision based on that. The long-term trajectory of your career is where you make your money, so it’s probably unwise to make short-term decisions in that regard. .Consider all factors.
Sasaki was officially named to the Major League Baseball team on December 9, kicking off a 45-day negotiation period for Major League Baseball clubs. He has until January 23 to finalize a contract. While Sasaki’s decision won’t be purely a financial matter, Wolfe noted that MLB wants to ensure as much of a “level playing field” as possible and make sure both Sasaki and his former team get the best possible benefits. The deal, which was made official on December 9, gives him the opportunity to extend his free agency into next year, when all 30 MLB teams will have more international resources available to them.
Regardless, this is a tough pill for the Marines to swallow. Under the NPB/MLB release system, an NPB player’s former team receives a release fee equal to 20% of the first $25MM of the contract, 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any amount thereafter. Take Yamamoto as an example. His former club received a huge 54.375MM release fee from the Dodgers for agreeing to let Yamamoto go. Since Sasaki’s signing bonus will likely be under $10MM, the Marines could receive a release fee of less than $2MM.
Sasaki pitched in parts of four NPB seasons, throwing 414 2/3 innings with a 2.02 ERA, a 32.4% strikeout rate, and a 5.6% walk rate. Any team that signs him will have control of him for at least six seasons. He cannot sign a contract extension immediately after his minor league deal, per Schedule 46 of the 2022-26 Collective Bargaining Agreement, indicating the commissioner’s office will not allow any contract that is seen as circumventing the CBA. Wolff noted that technically the MLB team couldn’t even commit to a major league roster spot when they signed Sasaki, let alone broker an extension in advance of a yet-to-be-determined date.
It’s theoretically possible that Sasaki could re-sign later in his young MLB career – possibly more than a year or two – but Wolff dismissed the idea that they would even be willing to do that. “If he’s really, really good, then the leverage is on our side, so we don’t have much incentive to sign a long-term extension.”
