Yankees, Mets, Giants No Longer in Running for Chicago Cubs Target Roki Sasaki

Three prominent teams, the New York Yankees, New York Mets and San Francisco Giants have reportedly been told they are out of the mix for Chicago Cubs top target Roki Sasaki.

Mar 20, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Japan starting pitcher Roki Sasaki (14) celebrates with teammates after the first inning against Mexico at LoanDepot Park | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

This is supposedly the week the Chicago Cubs find out if they've won the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes.

After a period of excitement when it was reported the Japanese phenom was going to be officially posted, the work began for just about every franchise in the league as they put together their sales pitches to land him.

Unable to sign anything other than a deal from a team's international pool of money, that put every organization on an even playing field, something which greatly benefited the Cubs.

Chicago is known to be one of the teams who got a meeting with Sasaki, and it's long been surmised that one of the seven reported franchises he met with is going to be his destination.

But with things being held so closely to the vest about how things might turn out, some new information has started to come out about which teams are the finalists.

As of right now, the Cubs seem to be one.

According to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, the San Francisco Giants have been informed they are no longer in the running. The same goes for the New York Yankees per Jack Curry of YES Network and the New York Mets per Will Sammon of The Athletic.

That takes three major threats out of the running for Chicago.

Things are changing quickly on this front and the Cubs could soon be eliminated, but it is at least notable they seem to be in the final four out of the seven teams that got meetings.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have long been his rumored destination, and they still are being considered for now alongside the San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers.

Whether Chicago can win the Sasaki sweepstakes will be seen, but they are still in the mix after this latest round of cuts.