Roki Sasaki Sweepstakes Are What MLB Free Agency Should Be
With the playing field as level as it could be for Roki Sasaki, we're getting a taste of how much fun it is when all teams are in play for top free agents.
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Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
. . . There was a slight update in the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes last week when it was announced that he will not be signing with an MLB team before Jan. 15, meaning he will be part of the 2025 international signing period and will count toward a team’s 2025, not 2024, international bonus pool money. The Dodgers have the most money left of any team in their 2024 international bonus pool at $2.5 million, but that slate will even out come Jan. 15, 2025.
. . . The Angels have been by far the most active team in MLB free agency so far this year, adding to their early haul by signing left-hander Yusei Kikuchi to a three-year deal worth $63 million on Monday. They’ve also signed catcher Travis d’Arnaud to a two-year deal worth $12 million, infielder Kevin Newman to one-year contract worth $2.5 million, and veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks to a one-year, $2.5 million deal.
Leading Off
The Chase For Roki Sasaki Shows How Fun The MLB Offseason Could Be
By Sean Millerick
What if I told you that the Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays had the opportunity to outbid the Los Angeles Dodgers for one of the most talented free agents on the market?
What if I had the temerity to suggest the Brewers and Twins could be better positioned than the Mets and Yankees to make such an addition themselves?
What if I told you that at the end of the day, the money might not matter much, and that every MLB team was in the race?
Welcome to the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes.
Sasaki is a flame throwing NPB veteran that brings the potential promise of becoming an overnight ace for an MLB rotation, and the guaranteed promise of generating tons of positive, profitable interest for the franchise that lands him. However, by virtue of not yet having turned 25 years old, he falls prey to the wild west rules of international free agency. Which means that rather than being eligible for a nine-figure contract that only a handful of organizations could afford, Sasaki could quite possibly spend the 2025 MLB season making less money than 25 of his teammates.
What Sasaki does get though, before earning that MLB minimum money, is a very handsome bonus that would seem to be capped in the $12 million range per that same MLB Trade Rumors report cited above. Granted, that figure would involve many borderline impossible trades for additional funds. Very likely, the actual bonus will end up being much closer to the roughly $5-7 million range allowed by international bonus pool rules. Still, this means that at least in terms of money, every team potentially has a shot at landing one of the most tantalizing prizes available in free agency this offseason.
Of course, it isn’t that simple. Other things matter. Chances of competing for a title. Chances of playing either with players you grew up idolizing, or for the team a former idol played for. Chances to either avoid a media circus, or to take advantage of it. Chances to under no circumstances whatsoever face the prospect of having to spend too much time in Missouri or Ohio. All of which means that if Sasaki doesn’t end up playing for a team within walking distance of the Pacific Ocean, it’s going to be a major upset.
Still, as this story continues to unfold, I couldn’t help but wonder. Wouldn’t it be great … if it was always this way?
What if every team, or at least a mathematical majority, always had a shot of competing where it often matters most – a player’s bank account? What if MLB and the MLBPA finally agreed to instituting both a cap and floor on team salary?
Obviously, that will never happen. There’s way too much avarice to go around on both sides of the table on this score. It’s a pumpkin-pie-in-the-sky utopia hardly worthy of wasting my time, and yours, contemplating.
All the same, just consider the staggering contrast between this Sasaki case and the other top story in MLB free agency right now, Juan Soto. The Soto bidding might involve, what, four teams with a real shot? A couple mystery teams might be in – likely a fabrication to create the illusion of competitive balance and/or drive up the value of those bids. Even then, at least 80% of the league is sitting this out entirely. But Sasaki? In this case, you’d be hard pressed to argue that 20% of the league is actively not giving serious thought to making an offer.
Understandably, Sasaki is not a traditional free agent (even though it’s kind of nuts that he isn’t). He’s an amateur by baseball law, making his situation in many ways more akin to if the Dallas Cowboys were allowed to buy out the NIL deal of Shedeur Sanders or another first-round caliber quarterback this week, and pay said quarterback league minimum money, than to the next big MLB free agent. So this isn’t a perfect fit for making the salary cap/floor case.
Yet it’s also not that far off from the case of countless free agent pursuits across the other major sports leagues either. The Sasaki story is drawing plenty of buzz right now, partly because nothing else is happening in baseball right now, but largely because of how bizarre, rare, and unusual it is. The thing is, the most rare thing about it … is that the majority of teams can, technically, financially afford to make a compelling offer.
Which is not something that should be bizarre. Or rare. Or unusual.
It should be commonplace.
Sean Millerick is a diehard Miami Marlins fan but still finds cause for hope every Spring Training. He currently writes for @CallToThePen. You can find him on Twitter, or whatever Elon wants to call it, @miasportsminute.
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