There is no way the Chicago White Sox are going to be able to get him to push his Japanese team to agree to a posting, but the Sox have some leftover international free-agent money they could trade to the team that does get the agreement.
There will be another Japanese pitching sensation on the free-agent market this offseason.
While Roki Sasaki has been posted for all 30 MLB teams to bid with the Chiba Lotte Marines to obtain his services, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the odds-on favorite to win the right to sign him.
However, that will not stop teams from trying to obtain him. Just do not add the White Sox to one of the bidders.
The main reason the Sox will not be in on Sasaki is they have announced that the club will not be spending much on free agents this offseason despite losing a record 121 games.
While the rules label Sasaki as a minor-league free agent based on him being just 23, there is still a posting fee to be paid to Chiba Lotte. His first contract is not going to be very expensive and his posting fee likely will not reach the levels of $50 million like what the Dodgers paid last year just to receive the right to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
There still will be a cost to acquire a pitcher with ace stuff.
Sasaki’s fee still will likely have the Sox claim poverty and not get into the bidding. At least he his a pitcher where the White Sox do have a lot of young options to rebuild with.
Still, Sasaki is a tantalizing pitching prospect as he can routinely hit 100mph on the radar gun.
There is one way the White Sox can still be sort of involved in the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes.
FutureSox.net’s James Fox suggests the Sox could offer up their remaining international bonus pool money to a team that hopes to outbid the Dodgers.
The World Series champs do seem like the likely landing spot since they have Shohei Ohtani and Yamamoto. That still does not mean the San Diego Padres will rule out making a run.
There are reports that Sasaki is tight with Yu Darvish. He could also end up in Chicago, except it would be on the Northside, as the Cubs have a great reputation among Japanese players after Darvish loved his time at Wrigley, and Seiya Suzuki is currently enjoying his.
The Seattle Mariners are also reportedly eager to want to sign him. That is where the Sox could offer their remaining bonus pool money to pick up a prospect to any of these teams wanting to build up their war chest to outbid the Dodgers.
It is not like it would be a needle-moving prospect they get, but since the Sox have been so bad in the international free-agent signing, it could make sense to swap the money for a prospect with a high-ceiling they might have some information on.
