Tag Archives: Roki Sasaki

Roki Sasaki’s future uncertainty

On Saturday, the Lotte Marines announced they would post 23-year-old flame thrower Roki Sasaki two years before both he and the Pacific League club could really cash in through his transfer to MLB.

Last week, I heard the Marines were working on some conditions they would ask Sasaki to swear to in order to secure their blessing, but couldn’t really guess what those might be. They could not, for instance, ask him to kick back some of his first MLB salary, since that would contravene the NPB-MLB posting agreement. Perhaps they asked him to hire someone from Lotte to help in his transition? Who knows.

If you stay up to date with the various media reports, you might not be too surprised if Sasaki were to show up for a press conference wearing a Dodgers shirt and hat, so closely has he been linked to them. But Sunday morning, I heard from a source close to Sasaki, who informed me nothing is etched in stone.

A few people on Twitter attacked me when I reported that his ascension to Chavez Ravine is not a lead-pipe cinch, because it wasn’t what they wanted to hear, I suppose, and who the fuck am I to rock their Dodgers love boat fantasy.

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Marines: Altruism behind Sasaki posting

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.

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