Texas Rangers Will Quickly Show if They’re in Roki Sasaki Sweepstakes

The next big date in Major League Baseball’s offseason is on Wednesday. That’s when teams are allowed to start spending their 2025 international bonus pool money on free agents.

Normally, the first day is a cavalcade of agreements with young Caribbean and South American free agents each team has courted for months, if not years. They’re allowed to sign when they’re 16 years old.

But, this Wednesday could be much different thanks to Roki Sasaki.

Because Sasaki is considered an international free agent, Major League teams are only allowed to use their bonus pool money to sign him. That balanced the playing field somewhat and allowed the Texas Rangers to get in the pursuit.

They’re one of seven teams known to have met personally with the 23-year-old pitcher. Rangers general manager Ross Fenstermaker said last week that the team had heard no update on Sasaki’s plans.

The Rangers have $6.2 million in bonus pool money to spend and, theoretically, they could fork the entire pool over to Sasaki. MLB insiders expect the team that signs him will do exactly that.

Because of that, insiders and baseball fans alike may know quickly which teams have a chance to sign him and which ones don’t.

Baseball America reported the conundrum this weekend. Every team, including the Rangers, have already committed portions of their bonus pool to international players, in some cases considerable amounts. Now, the agreements aren’t final until the prospect signs.

To sign Sasaki, the team most interested in him will probably have to back out of those deals to get something done. The Dodgers have already reportedly signaled their plans to their prospective signees and have lost one to the Pirates, per Baseball America.

On the first day of the international signing period, deals are announced as early as the first morning. It seems logical to assume that the teams that spend a considerable portion of their bonus pool on international players likely understand that signing Sasaki is out of the question.

There is also the potential for a flurry of trades on Wednesday and in the days following. That’s because the teams in pursuit of Sasaki have one weapon to improve their case. MLB rules allow teams to trade for up to 60% of their bonus pool money.

If the Rangers were to do that, they could accumulate nearly $10 million to enhance their chance of signing him.

So, if the Rangers, or any team, holds steady on Wednesday without a significant international signing or starts to make deals for international bonus pool money, it’s because they believe they have a chance to land the MLB-ready Sasaki.

And it’s a market that could evolve quickly.