The latest concrete reporting suggests that there are three teams in the running for star pitcher Roki Sasaki; the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and Toronto Blue Jays.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, ‘the Padres are cautiously optimistic he’s coming their way.”
Nightengale also notes that the Dodgers and Padres have been the overwhelming favorites to sign Roki Sasaki for the past year. Nothing has changed. Still the heavy, heavy favorites.
Sasaki most recently met in person today with the Padres.
Padres Confident They Will Beat Out Dodgers For Roki Sasaki

On Monday, San Francisco Giants general manager Zack Minasian confirmed that his team would not be Sasaki’s destination. This news was quickly followed by reports that both the New York Yankees and the New York Mets had also been eliminated from the bidding process.
Shortly after this report, ESPN’s Jeff Passan added the Chicago Cubs to the list of eliminated teams.
News of these eliminations came fast and furious but according to Sasaki’s agent, the next waves of decisions aren’t expected until closer to his deadline to sign. The 23-year-old Japanese pitcher, who must sign with a Major League Baseball club before January 23rd, continues to evaluate his options, with at least four teams remaining in contention.
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“The timeline for Round 2 is going to lead right up until he signs,” his agent Joel Wolfe recently said. “We’re still talking and having Zoom calls. So I don’t have a precise timeline for that, like we did for the meetings. Teams will be notified at some point if there’s going to be additional meetings or travel or something like that. But other than that, I don’t believe there’s going to be any specific timeline.”
Given that 20 teams expressed interest in Sasaki prior to the initial round of meetings, it is plausible that other teams may have also impressed the young pitcher with their presentations, further intensifying the competition for his signature.
He’s widely considered one of the best pitching prospects in the world and the Dodgers have bought into that. Andrew Friedman, President of Baseball Operations, previously identified Sasaki as a “major priority” for the team this offseason.
Friedman expressed confidence in Sasaki’s potential, stating, “He has talked about his desire to be the best pitcher in the world, and we believe he’s capable of being the best pitcher in the world.”, as he has a career 2.10 ERA with 505 strikeouts across 394.2 innings in his career in Nippon Professional Baseball.