Inside The Rangers

Texas Rangers Listed Among Least Likely Teams To Land Japanese Sensation

The Texas Rangers have been named one of the bottom landing spots for the next Japanese phenom.
Dylan Sanders|
Mar 20, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Japan starting pitcher Roki Sasaki (14) delivers a pitch during the first inning against Mexico at LoanDepot Park.
Mar 20, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Japan starting pitcher Roki Sasaki (14) delivers a pitch during the first inning against Mexico at LoanDepot Park. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers have been one of the top contenders for the next Japanese phenom, but how much sense do they make as a landing spot?

MLB's Mike Petriello recently put together a list of top landing spots for incoming star Roki Sasaki, taking into consideration how much each team needs his talents.

In this scale, Petriello has the Rangers all the way down at six out of seven. The only team lower than them are the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"Texas has a strong pitch, which is that they’re a recent World Series champion that once successfully convinced Yu Darvish to sign there. Yet a pursuit of Sasaki is more about the future than right now," said the writer.

The main reason was that Texas seems to already be in a good spot with their pitching staff and there is no clear place for Sasaki to fit in without potentially harming someones contributions or development.

There were six Rangers pitchers mentioned that hurt the need for Sasaki: Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, Jon Gray, Tyler Mahle, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker.

That is a solid mix of veterans and young arms that should combine to be a solid staff.

If deGrom can finally put together a healthy campaign again, he could still be a Cy Young contender. If Leiter can build upon a rocky debut season, he could be a solid backend stater this year.

All of these pitchers could certainly contribute a ton to winning baseball next season, but none offer exactly what Sasaki can. He represents an immediate answer to an ace, but also a potential long term one as well.

The 23-year-old has a career 2.02 ERA in 414.2 innings pitched at the highest level of Japanese baseball already. That is undeniable production and would gladly be welcomed into any rotation in MLB.

He has great control of his pitches and gets strikeouts at a high rate; there are few holes in his game, at least on paper.

While it's true that Texas may not need to sign Sasaki, it would be foolish of them to not at least try. It also shouldn't make them any less of contenders to actually pull it off.

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Dylan Sanders
DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders

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