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

[Carlos Danger]

Just to set the tone. Sasaki went to dinner this past weekend in San Diego with Darvish, Jackson Merrill, and Machado. Might have been more, those are the only names I heard. 

[glory]

 

[Brownie19]

21 minutes ago, Carlos Danger said:

Just to set the tone. Sasaki went to dinner this past weekend in San Diego with Darvish, Jackson Merrill, and Machado. Might have been more, those are the only names I heard. 

Maybe he correctly identifies Machado as a massive douchebag?

[Jays24]

33 minutes ago, glory said:

 

He'd sit with our star players but you know... something about contracts and them potentially leaving lol

[Vancouverite]

6 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

He'd sit with our star players but you know... something about contracts and them potentially leaving lol

Maybe the fact that Toronto could be Sasaki's team is a bonus for us? 

Japanese tend to have strong cultural values, and have a mentality of sum of all parts culture - you're successful as a whole team - no solo artists. and I think Shatkins speaks to that.

He probably doesn't even care about Guerrero

[Orgfiller]

18 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

He'd sit with our star players but you know... something about contracts and them potentially leaving lol

Our star player meeting with just be Gausman pulling up with an iPad showing a compilation of his splitter whiffs, followed by Bowden Francis showing his success over the past two months of the season with the same pitch that he learned from the former. Pretty effective pitch if you ask me.

[BB17]

2 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

Our star player meeting with just be Gausman pulling up with an iPad showing a compilation of his splitter whiffs, followed by Bowden Francis showing his success over the past two months of the season with the same pitch that he learned from the former. Pretty effective pitch if you ask me.

Bonus points for the pun

[Jays24]

4 minutes ago, Vancouverite said:

Maybe the fact that Toronto could be Sasaki's team is a bonus for us? 

Japanese tend to have strong cultural values, and have a mentality of sum of all parts culture - you're successful as a whole team - no solo artists. and I think Shatkins speaks to that.

He probably doesn't even care about Guerrero

So he doesn't care about winning based on your assumption? He's meeting with the star players from both SD/LAD for a reason imo.

This typically helps a player get a feeling on who he'd be playing with and the team culture going forward.  Now how much that matters I'm sure differs from person to person. 

[Brownie19]

24 minutes ago, Vancouverite said:

He probably doesn't even care about Guerrero

I think for some, playing with Vlad would be frustrating as f*ck.  Dude is the worst base runners in baseball, primarily due to his low baseball IQ.  He's also a horrible fielder, who admits he doesn't work on his defense in the offseason.  He also doesn't seem to have any self awareness and continued that ice bath bullsh*t way too long, which seemed to piss off his teammates. 

Oh and he's overweight, which impacts his ability to be the best ball player he can be.

I'm sure some people like his happy, life of the party spirit - but suiting up next to this guy day in and day out for 162 games may drive some players nuts.

[Brownie19]

18 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

So he doesn't care about winning based on your assumption? He's meeting with the star players from both SD/LAD for a reason imo.

This typically helps a player get a feeling on who he'd be playing with and the team culture going forward.  Now how much that matters I'm sure differs from person to person. 

I think what you're saying is true.  I think what Vancouverite is suggesting (in the first part) is that perhaps Roki wants to be the face of a franchise - he wants to be "the guy".  In the second part, he's suggesting he wants to be on a team without "superstar" or perhaps even a "superstar diva" that thinks his sh*t don't stink.  He wants to be in a culture where everyone is equal, regardless of talent/contracts.  That may not be true in all clubhouses.

I have no idea what Roki wants, but I hope that helps explain what Vancouverite was trying to suggest.

[Carlos Danger]

[Laika]

Sasaki just milking LAD/SDP for free dinners and stuff before signing in Toronto

[purplehaze89]

Legitimately which star player was used in the Jays pitch? Shatkins acknowledged barely using Vlad in his Soto pitch (and they're buddies!). Yikes. 

[Laika]

1 minute ago, purplehaze89 said:

Legitimately which star player was used in the Jays pitch? Shatkins acknowledged barely using Vlad in his Soto pitch (and they're buddies!). Yikes. 

Pete Walker!

Maybe they flew in Daulton Varsho and he put on a little show shagging flyballs 

[BB17]

As long as the pursuit of him doesn't cause the Jays IFA to sign with other teams its fine. The worst that would come out of this is Sasaki signs with LAD/SD and the IFA the Jays were going to sign find better deals elsewhere.

Apparently the Dodgers had a couple of their guys plucked.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2025-international-prospect-rankings-and-scouting-reports/

[Laika]

3 minutes ago, BB17 said:

As long as the pursuit of him doesn't cause the Jays IFA to sign with other teams its fine. The worst that would come out of this is Sasaki signs with LAD/SD and the IFA the Jays were going to sign find better deals elsewhere.

Apparently the Dodgers had a couple of their guys plucked.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2025-international-prospect-rankings-and-scouting-reports/

Yeah but they can just sign new ones. The total MLB budget for IFAs is not changing, so it's just musical chairs for the most part. 

[Dick_Pole]

Let's hope this guy is severely anti-social and introverted so that invitations to players' homes was a nightmare scenario for him that he does not want to repeat. Actually him have an anti-social personality disorder would track well to Atkins somehow keeping that Jays in the running. 

[Jimcanuck]

I betcha all the hotel in the Skydome is a big draw

[saskjayfan]

I'm guessing endorsements was a big part of the pitch.  I'd like to introduce you to the CEO and president of company X, Y,Z.  You are going to be a star for the club and these Canadian companies will gladly give you endorsement deals.  We're the only game in town and we have 38 million people to market to.

We're owned by a multi-media company.  This is the documentary series we did on our first round draft pick Arjun Nimmala.  We can create content that we can sell to Japanese media to help market you in Japan and help you acquire your own endorsements in Japan.  There are no other Japanese players to compete with here.

Maximizing endorsements is a big deal for a kid who basically gave up 100+ million dollars to come to the MLB 2 years early.  

I mean, it's still probably the Dodgers, but I can see our appeal. 

 

 

[Jimcanuck]

And the UP Express probably reminded him of home

[BB17]

1 hour ago, saskjayfan said:

I'm guessing endorsements was a big part of the pitch.  I'd like to introduce you to the CEO and president of company X, Y,Z.  You are going to be a star for the club and these Canadian companies will gladly give you endorsement deals.  We're the only game in town and we have 38 million people to market to.

We're owned by a multi-media company.  This is the documentary series we did on our first round draft pick Arjun Nimmala.  We can create content that we can sell to Japanese media to help market you in Japan and help you acquire your own endorsements in Japan.  There are no other Japanese players to compete with here.

Maximizing endorsements is a big deal for a kid who basically gave up 100+ million dollars to come to the MLB 2 years early.  

I mean, it's still probably the Dodgers, but I can see our appeal. 

 

 

The other side of it could be if he cared all that much about $ he would have just waited 2 years to come over.

Once he does sign I'd be interested to hear why he had the Jays in his top 3.

[Vancouverite]

3 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

I think what you're saying is true.  I think what Vancouverite is suggesting (in the first part) is that perhaps Roki wants to be the face of a franchise - he wants to be "the guy".  In the second part, he's suggesting he wants to be on a team without "superstar" or perhaps even a "superstar diva" that thinks his sh*t don't stink.  He wants to be in a culture where everyone is equal, regardless of talent/contracts.  That may not be true in all clubhouses.

I have no idea what Roki wants, but I hope that helps explain what Vancouverite was trying to suggest.

Thanks Brownie, that pretty much sums it up

We don't know what Roki wants and while the Dodgers are the face of baseball right now, in about 3 years all their star players will be in the mid to late 30's where regression is possible. 

I have to think Roki is interested in both short term and long term success and the Jays have shown a willingness to spend money and want to be successful. This is probably a reason why the Jays are a finalist. The stars of today might not be the stars of tomorrow and i'm sure Roki is considering this.

[saskjayfan]

25 minutes ago, BB17 said:

The other side of it could be if he cared all that much about $ he would have just waited 2 years to come over.

Once he does sign I'd be interested to hear why he had the Jays in his top 3.

I'm just going off of what they talking about on MLB radio.  They said there was talk that endorsements were important to him.  

[Nexii]

Reminds me of the Sidd Finch story where all the teams want him, but it's not about money.

[jaysblue]

4 hours ago, Orgfiller said:

Our star player meeting with just be Gausman pulling up with an iPad showing a compilation of his splitter whiffs, followed by Bowden Francis showing his success over the past two months of the season with the same pitch that he learned from the former. Pretty effective pitch if you ask me.

A night out at the Brass Rail solves everything!

[Sorrow]

I'm fairly certain that Atkins and Shapiro were one of, if not the first, North American team to go over and meet and start a relationship with Sasaki. We also have some of the best facilities in baseball for training and recovery and while our minor league pitching development hasn't been great our major league development has been great and for the most part those MLB arms have stayed healthy.

Sasaki is 23, he's going to be a free agent at 30 so getting some of the best development at the major league level he can get has to to be attractive. It also doesn't hurt that we can offer $10M in IFA dollars to the Dodgers $8 and IIRC the Padres are around $9.5. He has a lot of opportunity for endorsements in Canada where he would be the guy as well.

My gut feeling is that he ends up in San Diego but I wouldn't be surprised if it was Toronto.

[BB17]

If he wants not much media attention I feel like the Dodgers might actually be the best situation of the 3 ironically enough. Sure it’s LA but Ohtani and Yam would take a lot of it, not to mention the stars on the position side of it. 
 

Feels like it’s 45% LAD/40% SD/5% TOR at moment.

[Key22]

Trying to be objective, which is tough being a Canadian, but I have been to San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Seattle multiple times. Born in Toronto but lived in British Columbia most of my life.

If I had to choose a city as a place to actually live - I would choose Toronto (or the outlying areas) out of the teams still in it (and it's not particularly close). Canada is IMO a better country than the US. granted it's probably not so much better for multi-millionaires where some of the  Canadian "advantages" are more geared toward the middle class and poor but still.

I've also been to Tokyo and Fukuoka and I get more of a vibe that Canada and Toronto would be a little more like home for him. It's hard to put into words - but clearly, Toronto isn't in the running for the on-field talent or playoff contention for 2025.

To be fair though the Jays have made the playoffs 3 of the last 4 years and while last year was rough it's hard to lose your closer, your star SS, a setup guy, and your CY young finalist for the year and be expected to have that sort of depth waiting in the minors. Sure other teams have injuries but it really depends on WHO gets injured. It was going to be impossible for the Jays to make the playoffs with critical pieces of the team being hurt.

If Swanson and Romano were there all year and pitched to their capabilities all year and Bo was 2023 Bo and Manoah bounced back (and was looking quite good before he got hurt) you have to think that the Jays make the playoffs.

I think that the Jays appeal here is perhaps a bit underrated - they are probably still in third place among the finalists but man - I'd pick living in Toronto and Canada over LA or SD or America - in spite of the snow.

 

 

 

[Grant77]

49 minutes ago, BB17 said:

If he wants not much media attention I feel like the Dodgers might actually be the best situation of the 3 ironically enough. Sure it’s LA but Ohtani and Yam would take a lot of it, not to mention the stars on the position side of it. 
 

Feels like it’s 45% LAD/40% SD/5% TOR at moment.

I give it about 60% SD, 40% LAD and 0% Toronto. I usually appreciate some optimism, but there's absolutely zero chance. We're being used as a pawn to get concessions from the other teams (other than salary).

[John_Havok]

 

 

 

4 hours ago, saskjayfan said:

I'm just going off of what they talking about on MLB radio.  They said there was talk that endorsements were important to him.  

I heard them talking about this a few weeks ago also. It was mentioned that his endorsements in Japan would likely be much higher if he signed somewhere as the only Japanese player rather than a team with Ohtani, which...makes sense

Of course, if depends on what he ranks higher in importance. Clearly the teamwith the best chance to win is LA. The team where he can play with his idol/mentor and still have decent shot at post season play is SD. The team with the highest endorsement potential is likely Toronto, but easily the lowest real shot at winning over the next 6-7 seasons, but you can still squint and see some positives.