Roki Sasaki Free Agency - White Sox have a presentation

[Bob Sacamano]

18 minutes ago, wegner said:

Watching Ted Lasso again and thought "hey, Chris Getz should follow Sasaki to the bathroom and call him a pu**y for not signing with the White Sox"....but I do not know how to say that in Japanese.

"Roki! We got you, Roki! We got you, Roki! We got you Ro, Ro, Ro!"

[Bob Sacamano]

5 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

I'm just wondering why other teams aren't poaching presumed Blue Jay and Padre international signings. Are the Dodgers the only team confident enough to start telling their commits to look elsewhere?

Yeah, odd.

[caulfield12]

6 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

Yeah, odd.

The Padres put all their eggs in the Sasaki basket and were recently asking prospects to wait back for the 2026 class.

Blue Jays have just one guy in the $1-1.5 million range...so it's not like there are a huge number of Top 30-50 prospects in their signing class.

[caulfield12]

"This year, the Padres are not attached to any of the upper-echelon prospects, in part because they’re all-in on Sasaki.

Baseball America’s top-100 international board currently links the Padres to Dominican shortstop Jhoan De La Cruz (No. 43), Venezuelan shortstop Deivid Coronil (No. 50), Dominican left-hander Carlos Alvarez (No. 69) and Venezuelan outfielder Sebastian Peña (No. 77).

The Padres could attempt to push their handshake deals into the 2026 window, but that’s more complicated than it seems.

The White Sox have swiped Venezuelan outfielder Orlando Patiño (No. 81) from the Dodgers for an expected $570,000, up from the $400,000 he was going to sign for with Los Angeles, according to Baseball America."

 

Dodgers can add as much as $3,000,000 from trading pool money with other teams, bringing their total closer to $8.25 million and Blue Jays/Padres could both go over $10 million each, total

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/01/14/as-international-signing-period-opens-padres-await-roki-sasakis-decision/

Edited 4 hours ago by caulfield12

[Chicago White Sox]

1 hour ago, WestEddy said:

I'm just wondering why other teams aren't poaching presumed Blue Jay and Padre international signings. Are the Dodgers the only team confident enough to start telling their commits to look elsewhere?

I think it’s they couldn’t commit to signing them day 1 and therefore the players used this opportunity secure more money and/or better security.

[caulfield12]

 

Here are the three biggest prospects to watch any movement with in the days ahead with TORONTO...

 

 

According to Francys Romero, the Blue Jays have an agreement with nine players, including MLB Pipeline’s 22nd-ranked international prospect, Cristopher Polanco. The shortstop is expected to sign for $2.3 million.

The MLB international signing period (2024-25) begins in 12 days.

Here are my top 35 talents, dark horses, team signings tracker with estimated bonuses and more.

Full content available for paid subscribers on Beisbol FR:https://t.co/ireXLUNWDu

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) January 3, 2025

 

 

Polanco’s MLB Pipeline notes that he has a smooth left-handed swing with “tremendous” bat speed. There’s not a lot of room for projection left in his 5’11” frame and he may end up at second base in the future, but the hit tool is ranked a 60 grade.

 

Another shortstop is set to sign for the Blue Jays as well, Juan Sanchez. The youngster is set to sign for $1 million and is Baseball America’s 44th-ranked available prospect. Moreover, the Blue Jays are set to sign Kennew Blanco, who ranked NINTH on MLB Pipeline’s available IFA’s last season, for $600,000. Last season, he was supposed to sign, but an age controversy set his signing back a year with a lesser bonus.

 

 

 

Altogether, the Blue Jays are set to spend $4.76 million of their $6,261,600 pool, giving them just over $1.5 million left. There is something that complicates things though.

What about Rōki Sasaki?

https://bluejaysnation.com/news/international-free-agency-primer-the-blue-jays-are-set-to-sign-nine-players