Roki Sasaki apparently does not want any A-listers to get involved in his MLB recruitment.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported Monday that the Japanese star pitcher Sasaki has made an unusual request of his MLB suitors this winter. Sasaki reportedly requested that no team include any of their own players in their recruiting visits.
The 23-year-old righty Sasaki is drawing plenty of interest after producing a sparkling 2.02 ERA with 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings over the last four years with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He was officially posted by the Marines earlier this month and has already met with some prominent East Coast teams to open his free agency (but is not expected to sign until after international caps reset on Jan. 15).
Even if Sasaki does not want any players to get involved in formal recruiting pitches, that may not stop them from attempting to contact Sasaki on the side. As it stands right now, it appears that a couple of West Coast teams have the upper hand for Sasaki’s services.