Yankees Make Pitch to Highly-Sought Japanese Phenom

Yankees Make Pitch to Roki Sasaki

Plan B

After losing out to the Mets on Juan Soto, the Yankees have been busy with what has been dubbed “Plan B”. They traded for the versatile Cody Bellinger from the Chicago Cubs last week, also acquiring an elite closer, Devin Williams, from the Milwaukee Brewers. Additionally, they’ve signed former All-Stars Paul Goldschmidt and Max Fried, the latter likely being a flex of Hal Steinbrenner’s financial muscles.

But this spree of acquisitions begs the question of where everyone will fit in; in particular, in the starting rotation. The Yankees dealt Nestor Cortes in the Williams trade and Cody Poteet in the Bellinger deal. But they still have six full-time starters in Gerrit Cole, Fried, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt, and Marcus Stroman. If they were to sign Sasaki, it’s likely Stroman or Schmidt who would get the boot. But another such addition to the roster would mean moving even more players around on a team that is already undergoing a major makeover from 2024 to 2025.

New York vs. New York

That’s not to say that the Yankees couldn’t use Sasaki’s services. Signing the latest newcomer from Japan would bolster a Yankee rotation that is already among some of the best in baseball after signing Fried. This won’t be easy, however, as Sasaki can only receive money from each team’s international pool, meaning that the Yankees’ big-spending mentality won’t be an advantage here.

According to Heyman, both teams flew to Los Angeles to meet with the star on Thursday. Though Japanese players typically prefer West Coast teams, there are a few factors that give the Yankees a fighting chance at landing him over teams like the Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres (both have been linked to Sasaki).

The Advantages

In addition to their rich history of success and developing pitching talent, the Yankees also have a history of Japanese players successfully making the jump from NPB to MLB, most notably Hideki Matsui and Masahiro Tanaka. The Yankees reportedly made Tanaka an active part of their pitch to Sasaki, which should only help their case being that Sasaki is reportedly a fan of the former Yankee starting pitcher.

“He’s obviously a tremendous talent,” said Brian Cashman concerning Sasaki earlier this week. “It’d be nice to have Yankee Stadium be his home, but the decision will be up to him. All we can do is share everything and anything that we can about ourselves and what we provide.”

It wouldn’t just be nice if Sasaki called Yankee Stadium home: it would be great. Though he is only 23 years old, we’ve seen what Matt Blake and the rest of their pitching coaches have done with players like Luke Weaver, Michael King, and Clay Holmes. If they can replicate that same success with Roki Sasaki and he becomes an elite starter, the Yankees just might have the most formidable pitching staff in MLB next season.