The Yankees and Mets are out of the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes.
Sasaki’s camp informed the Yankees that the Japanese phenom will not be signing with them, YES Network’s Jack Curry reported Monday.
Soon afterward, reports from SNY’s Andy Martino and others stated the Mets were not expected to sign the 23-year-old Sasaki, either.
The Yankees and Mets were among the teams that met with the hard-throwing right-hander, who was posted last month by the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball.
The San Francisco Giants confirmed Monday that they had been eliminated, while reports said the Texas Rangers were out, too. The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres have been considered the favorites to land Sasaki.
Because Sasaki is not yet 25, he is considered an international amateur and is therefore not eligible for an MLB contract.
Sasaki will be to sign with an MLB team between Wednesday and Jan. 23, with clubs able to bid only from their international bonus pools. Those allotments range from about $5.1 million to $7.5 million.
He is likely to become one of baseball’s best bargains.
Armed with a 100-mph fastball and nasty splitter, Sasaki pitched to a 2.10 ERA and 505 strikeouts in 394.2 innings over four Nippon Professional Baseball seasons. He also stood out as a starter for Team Japan during its run to the 2023 World Baseball Classic championship.
“He’s obviously a tremendous talent,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said last month.
“I saw him pitch in person, but he was coming back from a rehab. I’ve seen, obviously, his videos over the course of time. I’ve seen his scouting reports come across over the course of time. He’s extremely talented, no doubt about it. He has a chance to be one of the world’s great pitchers.”
Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, suggested at last month’s Winter Meetings that his client might benefit from being in a small or mid-level market after having negative experiences with the media in Japan.
But later in December, Wolfe told SNY that market size would not be a factor.
Even without Sasaki, the Yankees boast one of baseball’s better rotations. Last month, they signed Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract, adding the left-handed ace to a starting staff already featuring Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt. Marcus Stroman, who made 29 starts for the Yankees last season, is also under contract but has been the subject of trade rumors.
The Mets, meanwhile, recently re-signed Sean Manaea and added Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes to a rotation also comprising Kodai Senga and David Peterson.
This is the second winter in a row that the Yankees and Mets missed out on a Japanese ace. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was 25 at the time, spurned both a little over a year ago for a record-setting 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers.
The Dodgers also employ another Japanese superstar in Shohei Ohtani, while the Padres have right-hander Yu Darvish, who is considered a mentor to Sasaki.
