Roki Sasaki is considered one of the best pitchers in Japan at only 23 years old in Japan. His Chiba Lotte Marines team will nominate him to go to the Major Leagues.
The publishing system is the transfer method between MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball that makes it available to all 30 teams.
Unlike other players, Sasaki will not be able to have a million-dollar contract because he is considered an international amateur free agent.
This largely determines how much money the player can receive, and how much the Chiba Lotte Marines can get with the 20%.
Only players who are at least 25 years old and have played six years in a foreign league can sign major league contracts when they are released. This is how Yoshinobu Yamamoto arrived for $325 million dollars to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I will do everything possible to rise from my minor contract to become the best player in the world, to not regret my only career in baseball and to live up to the expectations of everyone who has supported me,” Sasaki told through a statement.
Why is Roki Sasaki considered one of the best pitchers in Japan?
Sasaki, known as the Monster of the Reiwa Era, has a fastball that reaches 100 miles and combines it with a splitter and a slider.
When a player is signed, he has a period of 45 days to sign with a Major League team. Although Sasaki would join an organization on a minor league contract, a team can add him to its Major League roster before the 2025 season.
In 2022, at age 20, Sasaki pitched a 19-strikeout perfect game for Lotte and followed up in his next start a week later with eight more perfect innings before being retired.
Sasaki shone with the Japan team in the World Classic in Japan with a brilliant start against Mexico in the semifinals and thousands of fans.
The Japanese could be linked to the Dodgers, who will make efforts to have the great pitcher, but they will not be the only team.
The pitcher is close to Yu Darvish of the San Diego Padres, as well as the New York teams (Yankees and Mets) have great weight in attracting the young star.
Roki Sasaki arrives in a season of great free agents along with Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Anthony Santander, among others.
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