Where Will Roki Sasaki Sign? Pitches For All 30 Teams To Land The Japanese Star
Image credit: Roki Sasaki (Photo by Jasen Vinlove/Miami Marlins/Getty Images)
It’s unlikely that Roki Sasaki is going to end up as a Marlin, a Ray or a Pirate, but he is going to be available to all 30 teams. And because of MLB’s rules about bonus limits, he’s going to sign a contract that all 30 teams can afford without even having to take a meeting with the owner to get an addition to the budget.
With that in mind, here’s our elevator pitch from each and every MLB team for how they could try to convince Sasaki to choose them.
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Pitch: Sure, you can go play for the Dodgers, but wouldn’t it be more fun to be the pitcher who beats the Dodgers? We can offer a young and talented team that was in the World Series in 2023, with a young and exciting core.
Athletics
The Pitch: There’s literally only one direction our organization can go right now. Also, have you seen the movie Moneyball? We promise that you will actually be featured as a key pitcher in the sequel if you sign with us. Yes, the sequel will acknowledge that pitchers exist.
Atlanta Braves
The Pitch: You want to win, we know that. You’re a competitor. We’ve been to the postseason seven straight years, and we’re extremely bitter about snapping our NL East division streak last year. You won’t have to worry about run support thanks to our great core of hitters in their prime seasons. Since 2018, we’ve scored more runs in baseball than any team but the Dodgers—and in Atlanta you won’t play second or third fiddle to either Shohei Ohtani or Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Baltimore Orioles
The Pitch: We’ve been building something great here, but we’re now ready to win it all, and you’ll be a massive part of that. Our lineup is exceptional. Have you watched Gunnar Henderson? With him, Jordan Westburg and Jackson Holliday, you can be confident that we’ll have a great infield defense behind you. Pitching to Adley Rutschman is a pitcher’s dream, and you’ll always be remembered as the player who helped get us back to where we belong, at the top of the American League and winning the World Series.
Boston Red Sox
The Pitch: No team has won more World Series titles in the 21st century, and Roki, you can be the pitcher who gives us a fifth trophy. With a young and exciting position player core—Jarren Duran, Ceddane Rafaela, Triston Casas, Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell and more—all this team needs is an ace to get back to glory.
Chicago Cubs
The Pitch: Did you see how magical it was when we won it all in 2016? We may have lost our way since then, but we’re headed in the right direction. Pete Crow-Armstrong will catch anything from Waveland to Sheffield, and we have a loaded farm system, but we need a star. You can be that star.
Chicago White Sox
The Pitch: Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. We appreciate it, we really do. But we won’t waste your time by trying to make a case for why you should put on a White Sox uniform. When we’re more competitive in a few years, please remember that we respected your intelligence by not making a crazy case for why you should join us right now.
Cincinnati Reds
The Pitch: Have you seen Elly De La Cruz play? Can you imagine him making those jaw-dropping plays as your teammate? We’ve got a chance to be sneakily good next year thanks to Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Rhett Lowder and Chase Burns. With you fronting a six-man rotation, we can take on anyone.
Cleveland Guardians
The Pitch: We’re as good as any club at identifying and developing excellent pitching. You can trust that we’ll have a meticulous plan in place to help accentuate your strengths and only help you get better as you settle in against MLB pitching. You can also win right away here—remember how close the ALCS was?—and more talent is on the way. We also have one of baseball’s best farm systems led by Australia native and No. 1 overall pick in 2024 Travis Bazzana.
Colorado Rockies
The Pitch: We understand the challenge of pitching you on Coors Field. It’s not a pitcher’s haven, we get that. We also understand that we’ve been near the bottom of the NL West for the last six seasons. But you like a challenge, right? It’s more fun than joining the favorites and being just another piece. Help us win our first-ever World Series championship and make your mark on the majors in a way that no one could have expected. We think your splitter will be a mighty effective pitch in this elevation. Of course, if you prefer the easy way… we get it.
Detroit Tigers
The Pitch: We’re coming off a breakout season that saw us advance to the divisional round. Now imagine adding a young top-of-the-rotation pitching talent to our rotation. A one-two punch of you and Tarik Skubal in the rotation would further cement us as a club that’s here to stay in the AL Central.
Houston Astros
The Pitch: Join a dynasty that’s looking to keep the good times rolling. With Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve, we’ve got a lineup to compete with anyone, and you will have plenty of help in the rotation, as well. And we promise to regularly mention how you’re our hardest-throwing starter since Nolan Ryan was in his prime.
Kansas City Royals
The Pitch: We showed in 2024 that we’re a playoff team. With you to pair with Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez, we’ll show in the future that we can contend for titles. Also, do you like barbecue? Because we have a lot of great places for you to try out.
Los Angeles Angels
The Pitch: If you want to live in Los Angeles, but you don’t want to be the fifth-biggest star on your own team, come here. You won’t have to play in Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman or Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s shadow, and Mike Trout is happy to share the spotlight. We’ll build the team around you, because building a team around two star players will work. It’s got to work, right?
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Pitch: Roki, you know it. We want you. You want us. Let’s win titles together year after year. We’re already set up to use a six-man rotation. We’re already the most popular team in Japan, and with you on the team, we’re going to take it to even another level. The endorsements? You will be turning down 10 great opportunities for every one you take.
Miami Marlins
The Pitch: Have you ever been to Miami? It’s great. You’ll never have to worry about cold weather, and we have more help than you might expect once we get our other pitchers healthy. Why go somewhere where you’ll be just another star in a line of stars? In Miami, you could become the best player in team history.
Milwaukee Brewers
The Pitch: Who likes pitching in front of a bad defense? We just had the best defense in the game if you’re partial to defensive runs saved, and if you prefer any other assortment of metrics, we’re still a top-five team in the game. You saw Gerrit Cole in the World Series, right? We can promise you won’t have that sort of frustration with us. Plus, you’ll go down as a Brewers legend when you help pitch us to our first-ever World Series championship. We can get you to the postseason—we’ve been there in six of the last seven seasons—but you’re the player to push us over the edge.
Minnesota Twins
The Pitch: If you want to be a little further away from the craziness of being a star on the coasts, come to a place where you can be a star, but with less of the annoying demands that come with living in Los Angeles or New York. With you to front our rotation, you can be the pitcher who brought us our first World Series title since 1991.
New York Mets
The Pitch: Sign with the Mets, and you have a chance to be the undisputed ace in the biggest market in the country. Pitch alongside 2023 NL Rookie of the Year runner-up Kodai Senga in one of the most pitcher-friendly parks in MLB, where fly balls regularly die on the warning track. When the Mets have won, we have tended to win with strong pitching—from Tom Seaver to Dwight Gooden to Jacob deGrom—and now no ownership group will be more committed to building a winner than us under owner Steve Cohen.
New York Yankees
The Pitch: We’re the Yankees. Every other great team is described as the “Yankees” of whatever sport they play. Come to a great city and join a team that will always have stars to surround you. But we’re also hungry for a title, as we have gone longer without one than we’ll ever accept as being OK. We expect to win every year. With you on board, we’ll do exactly that.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Pitch: Have you met our owner? He’s the best owner in the sport. Other owners talk about wanting to win, but they slash their payroll at the first sign of trouble. Our owner makes it clear that winning it all is his reason for owning the team. You don’t have to worry that we’re going to rebuild. We reload, and our fan base will love you. They may be tough, but it’s because they expect us to win. And we will.
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pitch: We know we’re not the first team you’d think of joining, but hear us out. You could be part of one of the best rotations in baseball for years, giving you a chance to be talked about like the 1990s Braves or 1960s Dodgers. With you, Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and Bubba Chandler, we’re going to be able to shut down most any lineup. And with such a young pitching core, we promise we’ll spend some money to upgrade the lineup.
San Diego Padres
The Pitch: Have you ever visited our beautiful city? We can make the pitch about our go-for-it attitude with AJ Preller and our ownership. We can talk about how you have Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill, Manny Machado and Yu Darvish to help share the load. But really, just come visit our city. See how wonderful and passionate our fans are. Eat a fish taco. We’re confident if you come visit, you’ll never want to leave.
Seattle Mariners
The Pitch: No one knows pitching more than we do. Our 2024 rotation showed it, and with you, we’ll be even better in 2025 and beyond. We have a great young star hitter in Julio Rodriguez and one of the best catchers in baseball in Cal Raleigh. And have you seen our farm system? We should be good for years to come. But we’ve never won it all. You can be the pitcher who changes that.
San Francisco Giants
The Pitch: The Bay Area is a perfect spot for a Japanese pitcher, with easy travel when you want to go back home and a vibrant community here. And you’re just what we need to compete with the Dodgers, Padres and D-backs in an amazing division. Yes, you can join Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani in L.A., but in San Francisco, you’ll be the star, not a supporting player.
St. Louis Cardinals
The Pitch: We’ve been a National League powerhouse for more than a century, but we admit that we’ve taken a step back. We’re rapidly working to fix that, and there’s no one better to show that we’re younger, more talented and better than you.
Tampa Bay Rays
The Pitch: OK, we won’t hide the fact that we don’t know where we’re going to play next year. That’s a problem, we’ll admit it. But we are competitive each and every season, and we churn out pitchers year after year because we’re really good at pitching development. And you’re here for the long-term. Before long, we’ll be moving into a beautiful, brand new ballpark.
Texas Rangers
The Pitch: Don’t listen to Kansas City when they tell you about barbecue. Our brisket is better than anything they make there. Oh, and we also have a track record of winning this decade. And like you’re going to be after checking out Terry Black’s Barbecue, we’re hungry for more. The 2023 championship isn’t going to be a blip on the radar, and you’re the pitcher we need to shake off the Astros for good.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Pitch: Every one else can promise you’ll be a star in their city, but how about being the biggest star of the sport for an entire country? That’s what you can do in Toronto. We still have the core of a good team here, but with you, we’ll be ready to return to contention.
Washington Nationals
The Pitch: Stephen Strasburg became a legend in D.C. as an electric young starter, and he helped pitch us to a World Series title. You can be the next Nationals’ legend. With James Wood, Dylan Crews and Jacob Young, we’ve got a great young outfield we’re building around, and with you on the mound, you will help us return quickly to playoff contention.
