Roki Sasaki is leaving the building, or rather what the Lotte Marines portrayed Saturday as a shining city on a hill of human kindness.
The Lotte Marines announced that they will post the hard-throwing right-handed pitcher two years before it makes financial sense for the team to do so, out of the kindness of their hearts.
It almost brings a tear to your eye.
Speaking to reporters a few hours after the team announced the news on its website, senior executive Naoki Matsumoto said the decision was based purely on the sincere desire to go to MLB that Sasaki had expressed in his five years with the team.
Asked bluntly if Sasaki had a prior agreement to be posted with the team from when he turned pro in 2019, Matsumoto said no such agreement existed.
Roki Sasaki may be under contract with an MLB team next season, two years before he and the Lotte Marines are eligible to cash in on the riches that would be theirs if he moved as an international free agent, instead of as an international amateur, as defined by MLB’s collective bargaining agreement with its players union.
I have spoken to people with some knowledge of the situation, and have a good idea where the leak occurred that Sasaki will be posted. But I am not here to tell you that he will or he won’t. Even if the Marines agree to let him go, the final decision would be Sasaki’s, not his agent’s and not the sports marketing company that has a stake in him.
Instead, I want to explain how it might take place.
