Q&A with Roki Sasaki's Agent Joel Wolfe at Winter Meetings

Roki Sasaki is a 23 year old Japanese superstar starting pitcher who has been posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Nippon Professional Baseball League. As such, he is now eligible under MLB International Free Agent rules to be signed by any team in MLB.

As outlined in our article published yesterday, the Diamondbacks are in the mix for his services, having heavily scouted him this past season. The following are some of the highlights from Wolfe's press conference on Tuesday.

What are some of the things that are important to Sasaki?

"The best I can say is he has paid attention to how teams have done as far as overall success, both this year and in years past."

"He does watch a lot of Major League Baseball. He's paid attention to what his WBC teammates have done. He's talked to a lot of players, foreign players, that have been on his team with Chiba Lotte."

"He asks a lot of questions about weather, about comfortability, about pitching development, and just watching what other Japanese players in the major leagues are doing and how they are doing it."

What will the process be going forward?

Wolfe will meet with Sasaki over the next few days and map out a schedule to meet with teams, hopefully beginning next week. The number of teams to meet is not known yet. Sasaki is expected to travel back to Japan prior to the Christmas holiday.

Teams have already begun submitting presentations, PowerPoints and PDFs. The first round of meetings will be held in a central location, so the teams can travel to him, rather than him traveling all around the country. Once the suitors have been narrowed down, he will likely then visit those remaining cities at a future point.

Denying Rumors of a Predetermined Deal

"There were some accusations, allegations, all of them false, made about predetermined deals," Wolfe said.

Why was he posted for the 2025 International signing period as opposed to the the tail end of 2024 signing period?

"MLB rightly wanted to make sure that this was going to be a fair and level playing field for everyone. So they did their due diligence and interviewed numerous parties ahead of time to make sure that that was the case."

"[Posting for 2025] would give himself the best opportunity to get the best deal for him and for Chiba, and that Chiba would also have that opportunity. So it made sense to post at this time so that he could go into the 25 pool when the teams have much more substantial international bonuses."

What injuries did he have?

"This year, he had some shoulder inflammation, shoulder soreness. The year before that, he had an oblique injury. But nothing serious."

Why didn't he wait until he was 25 so he could sign a much bigger contract like Yoshinobu Yamamoto did with the Los Angeles Dodgers?

"There are no absolutes in baseball. And through Roki's eyes, there are no absolutes in life. ... he does not take anything for granted."

"It is not an absolute block as some people in baseball have assumed that two years from now he's going to get a Yamamoto contract. Baseball just doesn't work that way. If you look at the epidemic of injuries that pitchers here suffer they have the same potential issues."

"He could have Tommy John surgery. He's had two shoulder injuries. He's had oblique injuries. Things may not go the way they want."

"The other thing is, it's always been his dream to come to the major leagues since he was in high school. He's grown up idolizing players like Yu Darvish and Tanaka and Matsuzaka. This is something he's always wanted to do."

Does his relationship with Yu Darvish make the San Diego Padres a good fit?

"I would assume that would be a team that he would seriously consider. His relationship with Darvish is private between the two of them, and how much that will weigh on his decision-making, we'll have to find out."

Is it an attraction or an obstacle to play on a team with Japanese players?

"It's different for every single player. Each player is unique in how they feel about it, and I think it also matters on the player that is already on the team. How much do they reach out to other Japanese players? How are they perceived by this particular Japanese player? And it just varies player to player."

Due to Sasaki's young age, could he be leaning towards the attraction part of it?

"I think it could be. It could be to have an older player to help him, you know, show him the ropes, but anyone that knows Roki Sasaki, this is one of the most driven, intense players I've ever known and been around. Incredibly hard-working, and I wouldn't say that he would necessarily need it to succeed. I think he'll be just fine wherever he goes, whether he has a Japanese senpai or not."

Is playing on the West Coast more ideal for him?

"He's never brought that up as an issue, and when we supply information to our Japanese players, one of the things that we provide for them is direct flights from Japan and the amount of time it takes for your family to come and visit you. I think about five or ten years ago that was something that maybe they weighed a little bit more, but now you can fly direct from Japan to most of the major cities in the US."

To the best of your knowledge, how many teams scouted him this year in Japan?

"I would say probably at least half the league or more."

Does the gap in the size of the bonus pools available come into play?

"Given the gap in the bonus pool amounts is so negligible, my advice to him is don't make a decision based on that because the long-term arc of your career is where you're going to earn your money. So it's probably not advisable to make a short-term decision in that regard, to take all of the factors into consideration."

Would he consider small to mid market teams?

"Yeah, absolutely. I think that there's an argument to be made that a smaller mid-market team might be more beneficial for him as a soft landing coming from Japan, given what he's been through, not having an enjoyable experience with the media. ... It might be beneficial for him to be in a smaller market."

What are the biggest issues with the media?

"There's been a lot of negativity in the media directed at him because he has expressed interest at going to play for MLB at such a young age, and that's considered in Japan to be very disrespectful and sort of swimming upstream."

The signing will take place between January 15-22. Will the decision likely come before that signing window?

"That's possible. The incentive to sign as early as possible is to get the visa process going so that he would be on time for spring training. So the earlier we make a decision, the better. Nobody would want him to be showing up late to spring training."

Are teams permitted to talk long-term contracts at any point?

"No, they are only allowed, and it's spelled out very clearly, it can only be a minor league contract with no promise of any contract extensions or anything of value to anyone even associated with them. It's the same as the Latin players coming from the academies that sign these deals."

"They can't even promise to put him on the major league roster during these discussions. But once he's in the system, he would be a 0-3 player and then approaching arbitration."