Mar 20, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Japan starting pitcher Roki Sasaki (14) delivers a pitch during the first inning against Mexico at LoanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
A year ago the Phillies were very aggressive in their pursuit of Japanese pitching phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
They obviously didn't win that bidding war, losing to the prohibitive favorite to land a Japanese star, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who signed Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million contract.
The Phillies have still never signed a Japanese baseball player straight from Japan. They've only had two Japanese players ever don the red pinstripes - So Taguchi, and Tadahito Iguchi.
But that's not going to deter them from continuing to try - and they like an audience with the biggest Japanese prospect on the market this year as well - Roki Sasaki.
Phillies' President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters at the MLB Winter Meetings Tuesday night that the Phillies want to make a presentation to Sasaki, but that they don't know yet if Sasaki is willing to hear their pitch.
Phillies obviously a longshot for Roki Sasaki but would love to make their presentation if on his short list
"You're always interested in really good players and we think he's a premium guy," Dave Dombrowski said. "We would love to have Sasaki & Painter going for years to come."
"We're just like everybody else, we're very interested," Dombrowski told reporters, including Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philly. "My understanding is that they are going to meet themselves first. (Sasaki's agent) Joel Wolfe said to some of our people. They know everybody is interested. They'll let some clubs know that they're still involved in the process. So, we are prepared to make a presentation, our people have been working on it for an extended time. We're ready to do that but they have to tell us that you're one of the so many clubs that he's willing to go to. They're making their presentation to him to let him know this is the background of these clubs. We'd love to have a presentation for him. We hope we're in that group, but we don't know."
The pursuit of Sasaki is completely different than it was for Yamamoto last year. Yamamoto was 25-years-old, so he could be treated as a professional free agent and teams can get into a bidding war for his services, thus the lengthy and pricey contract he eventually signed with the Dodgers.
Sasaki is just 23, which means he has to be considered an amateur free agent, and is limited to be signed like other young, international players, through the international bonus pool system. Every team has similar bonus pool money. The 2025 floor is $4.16 million (San Francisco Giants). The ceiling is $7.55 million (eight teams) - and that's for all international free agents signed in a given year. Teams lose bonus pool money after they sign free agents who were given a qualifying offer by their former club but rejected it to test the free agency waters. Teams can also acquire additional bonus pool money (up to 60% on top of their starting allotment for the season).
Currently, the Phillies have $6,261,600 in bonus pool money, which is tied for 15th in baseball. However, when you look at the 14 teams ahead of them, the only teams who were 2024 playoff teams are Detroit, Milwaukee, Baltimore and Cleveland. The Dodgers, who again are perceived to be one of the favorites to land Sasaki, are the next lowest behind San Francisco with $5,146,200.
So, all the teams are on a relatively even playing field when it comes to the money it could offer Sasaki. That means, what it really will come down to for Sasaki is picking out the teams he most wants to play for and listen to what they have to say.
The Phillies are certainly one of the haves in MLB, so they should be able to get an audience with Sasaki, but there's no question that West Coast teams have an advantage because of the proximity to Japan.
But the Phillies still don't mind chasing these young Japanese pitchers because they see the possibility of them being part of a foundation for the franchise for years to come.
“The Philadelphia Phillies, according to a league source, remain another team worth watching in the [Roki Sasaki] sweepstakes. Last winter, team president Dave Dombrowski aggressively pursued Yamamoto in free agency, a signal of the franchise’s concerted efforts to build up a… https://t.co/rq3pwyfiPJ pic.twitter.com/OAFawAv9Y0
"You're always interested in really good players and we think he is a premium guy," Dombrowski said. "It may not be [an immediate need] but you can never have too many good players. We would love ot have, going into the future, Sasaki and [Andrew] Painter going for years to come. It would be pretty good."
Sure would, but would Sasaki feel the same way?
Wolfe held a press conference at the Winter Meetings, Tuesday to discuss Sasaki and he talked about what might be important to his client.
"My first answer is, I’m not entirely sure yet,” Wolfe told reporters when asked about what is important to his client when picking his team. “I’ve known Roki for a little over two years now. And as I’ve gotten to know him, it’s been a little bit difficult to really ascertain what his decision-making process would be for choosing a team, because his focus has been predominantly on whether or not he’s going to be able to post. ... His dream is to come here to the major leagues,” Wolfe said. “[But] I think that he hasn’t really wrapped his head around the individual teams and the individual cities. He just doesn’t really know much about them.”
Roki Sasaki's agent Joel Wolfe on working with the media in Japan:
"The media in Japan has been very tough on him, and he's not had a great time with it. It's affected him mentally a little bit." pic.twitter.com/A4rosmYUkV
When asked if Sasaki wanted to play with fellow Japanese players, Wolfe said the pitcher “could be” attracted to such a team, but that he didn't “necessarily need it to succeed.” That could be a plus for the Phillies.
As for a minus?
“He has paid attention to what his WBC teammates have done,” Wolfe said. “And just watching what other Japanese players in the major leagues are doing and how they are doing. ... [He has also] paid attention to how teams have done, as far as overall success, both this year and years past,”
Shohei Ohtani and Yamamoto are in Los Angeles and, well, they just won a World Series so...
"I do feel like we've made inroads, I do think we continue to grow and scout [in Japan] and have our personnel there," Dombrowski said. "I think we're much more well-known there than we've been in the past, but unfortunately it hasn't translated to signing somebody. Some of our personnel think it's an advantage to not have signed somebody because you can say you're the first person, you're coming to a quality ballclub, you can be the person. There are other people who look at it the other way, that it's not advantageous because we don't have a Japanese player on our team. I think everybody would look at it from different views."
