Following the acquisition of Juan Soto, the Yankees and Mets competed for Roki Sasaki on the same day.
Both New York clubs visited Los Angeles on Thursday to make a pitch for the young star Japanese right-hander, the Post reported.
Until now, the Mets were the only team known to have sat with Sasaki during Thursday's doubleheader.
Details about the meeting are unclear, but the Yankees had previously prepared a virtual presentation to secure an in-person meeting.
On Wednesday, general manager Brian Cashman said he doesn't know how many teams have reached this round of amateur free agency.
According to a report from “670 The Score,'' the Cubs are scheduled to meet with manager Sasaki on Friday.
Sasaki is known to have been a fan of Masahiro Tanaka.
His agent, Joel Wolfe, said Sasaki has focused on MLB teams' track record of Japanese players, their overall success and history of developing pitchers.
Everyone needs to help the Yankees with their case.
Damaging their case may be market size (Mr. Sasaki, with limited experience in Japanese media, may prefer smaller cities), and Japanese players have favored the nearby West Coast.
Additionally, the powerful Dodgers are looming as the top contenders, and the Padres should also have a fighting chance thanks to Yu Darvish, who is close to Sasaki.
The Yankees have openly shown interest in Sasaki, with top scouts and Cashman himself visiting Japan.
Any team would be interested in the 23-year-old, who has an electric arm and can be imported for the price of a young utility man. Because he is not yet 25 years old, Sasaki is treated as an international amateur who only a few players can claim. Millions of dollars for the team's international bonus pool.
“Obviously he's a great talent,” Cashman said of Sasaki this week. “It would be great for Yankee Stadium to be his home, but the decision is up to him. All we can do is share everything we can about ourselves and what we offer.”
Sasaki cannot sign a contract until January 15th. If he chooses the Yankees, he would rotate with a group that currently features six talented arms (Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Luis Gil, Clark Schmidt, Marcus Stroman). will need to be decided. .
Typically, teams move to a six-man rotation to accommodate Japanese pitchers who are used to pitching once a week.
Cashman admitted this week that he doesn't know what opportunities the club will have.
“All I can say is I appreciate the opportunity to connect,” Cashman said. “After that, it ultimately comes down to personal choice.”
