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Lotte’s problem children

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On Thursday, Roki Sasaki became the lone Japanese player in Nippon Professional Baseball without a contract for 2024, a week away from becoming the first Feb. 1 holdout in 13 years.

That phase of the Sasaki drama ended Friday, when the Marines announced the two sides had come to an agreement on a contract. The holdout ended because one of the two sides realized they had nothing to gain by letting this dram continue, and we won’t know until the end of the season which side that is.

But first, a digression into how Sasaki’s situation compares to that of the Marines 1990s problem child, Hideki Irabu.

Hideki Irabu

Until Friday, Sasaki’s case was beginning to feel more and more like the turmoil that surrounded Irabu in 1996.

Irabu left Lotte in the middle of the season, effectively going on strike, until Lotte capitulated and sent him to the San Diego Padres after the season. Exactly how it happened is a little murky.

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G.G. Sato: ‘Sasaki should be flexible’

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Although Japanese pro baseball hasn’t had a player enter spring training without a contract since 2011, two players, Lotte Marines pitcher Roki Sasaki and Rakuten Eagles outfielder Ryosuke Tatsumi are currently on track to end that run of offseason labor harmony.

Sasaki is embroiled in a saga about when and how he can leave the Marines and begin a career in MLB, something he apparently wants to do long before he turns 25, when such a move would be extremely lucrative for both him and the Lotte organization.

If you’re the Marines, and you were only able to sign Sasaki as an amateur on the condition that you permitted him to go at a time of his choosing, you have to let him go if he persists in his demand.

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