Finalists For Roki Sasaki Are Dodgers, Padres, and Blue Jays; Sasaki will Decide Team Soon

[BB17]

Padres does make a lot of sense. 

Better pitchers park/division, team is well positioned for the next 5 years with Tatis, Merill. And they’ve been pretty good lately developing pitchers. And then add in San Diego has maybe the best weather of any MLB city and it’s close to Japan and you can see why it wound be an easy choice.

 

 

[Stangstag]

4 hours ago, BB17 said:

Padres does make a lot of sense. 

Better pitchers park/division, team is well positioned for the next 5 years with Tatis, Merill. And they’ve been pretty good lately developing pitchers. And then add in San Diego has maybe the best weather of any MLB city and it’s close to Japan and you can see why it wound be an easy choice.

 

 

I still think its like 80% Dodgers, 19.9% Padres, and maybe 0.1% Jays.

Padres are possible, Jays are not. But im still pretty certain it’ll be the Dodgers

[mphenhef]

I have seen some people claim he is using the Jays for leverage.  There is no leverage here folks.  His contract will be the bonus pool the teams have…there is no need to use another team as the price can’t be driven up.

[glory]

Yeah this seems like way more of an accomplishment for Shatkins than their other pursuits. Sasaki has no reason to keep the Jays as a finalist as this only involves international pool money so there’s no such thing as using other teams for leverage. The Jays impressed him somehow. I doubt they impressed him enough to not sign with the Dodgers but whatever.

Unfortunately this will just add to the “Jays always the bridesmaid” internet narrative but in this case it’s not deserved. To be as bad as they’ve been with pitching development the last decade and still impress a pitcher who (supposedly) cares about a team’s ability to develop talent is pretty impressive.

[BatFlip]

11 minutes ago, glory said:

Yeah this seems like way more of an accomplishment for Shatkins than their other pursuits. Sasaki has no reason to keep the Jays as a finalist as this only involves international pool money so there’s no such thing as using other teams for leverage. The Jays impressed him somehow. I doubt they impressed him enough to not sign with the Dodgers but whatever.

Unfortunately this will just add to the “Jays always the bridesmaid” internet narrative but in this case it’s not deserved. To be as bad as they’ve been with pitching development the last decade and still impress a pitcher who (supposedly) cares about a team’s ability to develop talent is pretty impressive.

Atkins must have told him that his team would be relentless in helping him, but not to an unnatural extent, and would definitely positively, but not negatively, impact his development. 

Then there was a long pause, before the translator made something up that impressed Sasaki.

[Laika]

1 hour ago, mphenhef said:

I have seen some people claim he is using the Jays for leverage.  There is no leverage here folks.  His contract will be the bonus pool the teams have…there is no need to use another team as the price can’t be driven up.

Good point. 

I guess there might be other ways to "exert leverage" like negotiate for certain conditions or special treatment. But I am sure every team would basically do whatever this guy asks for off the field.

[Brownie19]

I just read Roki started following Trout on social media yesterday.  He's going to the Angels!

[BB17]

Kind of wonder if you could promise the guy some sort of “guaranteed” marketing/sponsorship deals. 

While he’s capped at what he can earn from the Jays, who’s to say TD or one of the bigger Jays sponsors doesn’t sign him for a lot of $ to do commercials. And then the Jays in return give those sponsors a ton of extras.

A private jet company would be another smart deal so you could give his family flights from Japan.

 

[Jonn]

He wants his own spotlight. He goes to the Dodgers he's Shohei's Ohtani's Japanese teammate. He goes to San Diego or Toronto he is the guy in those markets the Japanese media focuses on. I am thinking he signs with the Padres for a variety of reasons including the time zone, the weather, and the overall fit.

It will be interesting to see what intrigues him so much about the Blue Jays. I guess the idea of him being a star on the only team in Canada has it's own allure to certain personalities.

[Brownie19]

2 minutes ago, BB17 said:

Kind of wonder if you could promise the guy some sort of “guaranteed” marketing/sponsorship deals. 

While he’s capped at what he can earn from the Jays, who’s to say TD or one of the bigger Jays sponsors doesn’t sign him for a lot of $ to do commercials. And then the Jays in return give those sponsors a ton of extras.

A private jet company would be another smart deal so you could give his family flights from Japan.

 

I mean - he could become the spokesperson/face of Rogers Communication...no need to involve another company even.

Rogers could sign him to some 6 year $200M deal to do commercials :)

[BB17]

2 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

I mean - he could become the spokesperson/face of Rogers Communication...no need to involve another company even.

Rogers could sign him to some 6 year $200M deal to do commercials :)

That’s too obvious of a way to circumvent the CBA and I feel like there must already be something about that in place.

[BB17]

5 minutes ago, Jonn said:

He wants his own spotlight. He goes to the Dodgers he's Shohei's Ohtani's Japanese teammate. He goes to San Diego or Toronto he is the guy in those markets the Japanese media focuses on. I am thinking he signs with the Padres for a variety of reasons including the time zone, the weather, and the overall fit.

It will be interesting to see what intrigues him so much about the Blue Jays. I guess the idea of him being a star on the only team in Canada has it's own allure to certain personalities.

Yeah I agree I think San Diego would be the best fit for him. 
 

I honestly have no idea how the Jays are in the top 3. Just from a winning perspective their future outlook is pretty bleak not to mention the division they play in.

[204Jays]

Maybe he likes the South Asian Orwell-esque cityscape formerly known as Toronto.

[wilko]

5 minutes ago, 204Jays said:

Maybe he likes the South Asian Orwell-esque cityscape formerly known as Toronto.

Reported. 

[204Jays]

5 minutes ago, wilko said:

Reported. 

For being cool?

[Jimcanuck]

It is certain that at the F2F the Jays and Sasaki talked about the team outlook.  Pure speculation, but I expect the Jays made commitments as part of their pitch.  Coming out of these commitments, I can see a big splash tomorrow, with Sasaki and Bregman announced at the same time.

Strike out on Ohtani and Soto, but get a comparable WAR upgrade through the Sasaki / Bregman combo.

It will be glorious.

[Spanky99]

10 minutes ago, Jimcanuck said:

It is certain that at the F2F the Jays and Sasaki talked about the team outlook.  Pure speculation, but I expect the Jays made commitments as part of their pitch.  Coming out of these commitments, I can see a big splash tomorrow, with Sasaki and Bregman announced at the same time.

Strike out on Ohtani and Soto, but get a comparable WAR upgrade through the Sasaki / Bregman combo.

It will be glorious.

While it would  be nice, Sasaki has held on to him announcing his team on the 22nd or 23rd final day.

[Dr. Dinger]

Darvish… Ohtani… what is it with superstar Japanese pitchers and cockteasing Jays fans? Fool me once… shame on, shame on … you… fool me… you can’t get fooled again!

[Jimcanuck]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Dinger said:

Darvish… Ohtani… what is it with superstar Japanese pitchers and cockteasing Jays fans? Fool me once… shame on, shame on … you… fool me… you can’t get fooled again!

Cynicism is so sad.

[204Jays]

8 minutes ago, Dr. Dinger said:

Darvish… Ohtani… what is it with superstar Japanese pitchers and cockteasing Jays fans? Fool me once… shame on, shame on … you… fool me… you can’t get fooled again!

Fool me, hurt me, slap me, tease me.

[Jays24]

The Jays must offer some crazy all inclusive packages for free agents to come here and include us in their finals.  Like you can't wine and dine on their dime and then say they're out right away... that would be cruel.  Ohtani showed Sasaki how to do it lol. 

https://bluejaysnation.com/news/report-shohei-ohtani-left-meeting-with-blue-jays-last-winter-with-bags-of-team-apparel

[Angrioter]

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[Jimcanuck]

Time to place bets on the Padres?

[Jimcanuck]

To win the WS i mean

[204Jays]

He tossed with the Jays too. Nothing to see here.

 

[BB17]

Yeah he was throwing at the Rogers Centre too. Not really sure why honestly, cuz he's going to get paid the most he can regardless of what they saw in a bullpen lol.

Him going to SD for a second meeting with players is probably the bigger story there.

[mphenhef]

21 minutes ago, BB17 said:

Yeah he was throwing at the Rogers Centre too. Not really sure why honestly, cuz he's going to get paid the most he can regardless of what they saw in a bullpen lol.

Him going to SD for a second meeting with players is probably the bigger story there.

Maybe he wanted to try the mound he might pitch 16 games a year from?

[mphenhef]

3 hours ago, BB17 said:

Yeah I agree I think San Diego would be the best fit for him. 
 

I honestly have no idea how the Jays are in the top 3. Just from a winning perspective their future outlook is pretty bleak not to mention the division they play in.

There are some appealing things I can think of:

1. Daulton Varsho at CF and Giminez up the middle

2. Their facilities in both Toronto and Dunedin are among the best in the business.

3. Toronto still has direct flights to Tokyo and they are only 40 minutes longer than from San Diego.

4. a good chunk of the luxury housing hasn’t burned down recently in Toronto.

 

5. a dome may appeal to him

[Stangstag]

16 minutes ago, mphenhef said:

There are some appealing things I can think of:

1. Daulton Varsho at CF and Giminez up the middle

2. Their facilities in both Toronto and Dunedin are among the best in the business.

3. Toronto still has direct flights to Tokyo and they are only 40 minutes longer than from San Diego.

4. a good chunk of the luxury housing hasn’t burned down recently in Toronto.

 

5. a dome may appeal to him

Honestly #5 might be the most important point here.

[BB17]

7 minutes ago, mphenhef said:

Maybe he wanted to try the mound he might pitch 16 games a year from?

Wasn't even throwing off the mound, it was in the outfield. Pretty sure they keep the mound covered all offseason anyways.

4 minutes ago, mphenhef said:

There are some appealing things I can think of:

1. Daulton Varsho at CF and Giminez up the middle

2. Their facilities in both Toronto and Dunedin are among the best in the business.

3. Toronto still has direct flights to Tokyo and they are only 40 minutes longer than from San Diego.

4. a good chunk of the luxury housing hasn’t burned down recently in Toronto.

 

5. a dome may appeal to him

I mean pitching in San Diego with Merrill and Tatis in the OF is going to suppress offence way more than Toronto with Varsho/Giminez. I really don't think any players on defense really is a factor for a FA anyways. Varsho could be gone in 2 years and players come and go.

Has he he visited Dunedin yet? As far as I know he hasn't, but yeah that certainly would be a strong selling point. I would think if he was actually going to sign in Toronto he would check it out before signing.

I agree the flight isn't that much longer but for whatever reason it seems like Japanese players prefer the West Coast. You would think the difference of a 12 hour or 14 hour flight would me minuscule though. Its always brought up with the Yankees too.

San Diego hasn't had any fires and has the perfect weather where you don't even need a dome. I doubt the fires have any impact whatsoever on the Dodgers chances either.