The Minnesota Twins may be under payroll restrictions for the second straight year, but they still may have the opportunity to land one of the best starting pitchers on the market.
Japanese ace Roki Sasaki was posted at this week’s Winter Meetings in Dallas. While a unique set of posting rules for the 23-year-old could help teams like the Twins, so could comments from Sasaki’s agent Joel Wolf, who said that his client could benefit from a “soft landing” by signing with a team in a small-to-mid market.
“I think there is an argument to be made that a smaller or mid-market team might be more beneficial for him as a soft landing coming from Japan given what he’s been through and not having an enjoyable experience with the media, it might be…beneficial for him to be in a smaller market,” Wolfe said while talking to reporters on Tuesday. “But I don’t know how he looks at it yet, because I haven’t had a chance to really sit down and discuss it with him in great detail.”
How does the international posting process work for Roki Sasaki?
Sasaki is an intriguing target after he was posted by his Japanese team, Chiba Lotte this week. A high school phenom with a 102 mph fastball, Sasaki became one of the best pitchers in the world, going 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA, 129 strikeouts, 32 walks and two home runs over 111 innings for the Marines last season.
Over four years in the Pacific League, Sasaki owns a 29-15 record with a 2.10 ERA and 505 strikeouts to 88 walks over 394.2 innings.
A resume like this typically prices out small-market teams thanks to the Japanese posting rules but Sasaki’s case is different at age 23. MLB rules dictate that foreign professionals under 25 years old and fewer than six years of experience must sign as international amateurs and teams are limited to their international prospect pool in terms of how much they can offer as a posting fee and are required to sign them to a minor league contract.
As a result, it will create a feverish market for Sasaki as he meets with teams next week to decide where he wants to play in 2025.
Why the Minnesota Twins have a chance at signing Roki Sasaki
With the 2025 payroll likely to be around the $130 million they played at last season, Minnesota still needs to shed $12 million in payroll and rumors have indicated players such as Chris Paddack and Christian Vazquez could be traded to create that room.
But adding Sasaki wouldn’t be the same price as other Japanese free agents have signed for. The Los Angeles Dodgers paid over $50 million in posting fees to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto last offseason but with posting fees restricted to international signing pools, the Twins have the most money to spend at $7,555,500 along with the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays.
The contract would also be much cheaper than the 12-year, $325 million contract Yamamoto received last offseason. It would be similar to Shohei Ohtani’s one-year, $2.3 million minor league deal he signed upon joining the Los Angeles Angels before the 2018 season.
Putting Sasaki alongside Pablo López, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober would give Minnesota another quality arm in the rotation and and they wouldn’t have to go through “the clearance rack” to do it. The fifth spot could be left to battle for between prospects Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa and Zebby Matthews. But the Twins also have to sell Sasaki on coming to Minnesota.
Wolfe noted that more cities have direct flights to Japan than in the past, which could open Sasaki’s market beyond West Coast teams and a roster that includes established veterans such as Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton, as well as a young nucleus including Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee and Walker Jenkins, might be enough to persuade Sasaki to come to Minnesota.
It might be the best arm the Twins could add without paying an exorbitant price and it means Minnesota might be putting their best foot forward to recruit Sasaki in the coming weeks.