Two days before the Winter Meetings officially begin, the annual baseball hauler exhibition just got more interesting.
Japanese pitcher Aki Sasaki is scheduled to be posted during this week's meetings, the Post's Jon Heyman confirmed Saturday, giving the club a 45-day grace period to try to bring him into the team. will be established.
Interested teams would need to cover all 30 teams, but would need to sell themselves more physically than financially.
The 23-year-old right-hander will be treated as an international amateur, meaning his contract will be limited to the pool of money the team allocates to the international free agent market.
The Yankees and Mets will start at $6,261,600, which they can distribute to international amateurs who sign in 2025.
The Mets have already agreed to a deal with 17-year-old Dominican infielder Elian Peña worth about $5 million, a huge chunk of their budget.
The club could choose to break the non-binding contract, but doing so would damage its reputation and make it more expensive to sign a potential candidate.
You may also consider trading with additional IFA funds.
If the Mets truly believe they can land Sasaki, they'll surely find a way to get him the money they need.
He is considered one of the best young pitchers in the world, posting a 2.10 ERA and 505 strikeouts in 394 2/3 innings over four seasons in NPB, leading to the Angels signing Shohei Ohtani. It would be the best baseball trade since.
The Dodgers, who are the defending champions and have Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the rotation, are considered the frontrunners.
Sasaki is believed to have a great opportunity for the Padres due to his close proximity to Yu Darvish.
The Yankees could tout a strong history with Japanese players and a strong history on the field, and the Mets could use Kodai Chiga to lure Sasaki.
There is no indication yet as to what Sasaki will value in his chosen team.
Once Sasaki is posted, as will reportedly happen on Tuesday, teams will be able to start pitching with the pitcher, making him eligible for contract starting January 15th, when the 2025 IFA market opens. You can get it.
In the meantime, teams don't know if they should keep their sixth rotation spot open, but if chosen, every team could improvise, throw 100 mph, possess a devastating splitter, and rotate You'll be thrilled to land your top arm. Play for relative pennies.
