Japanese-born pitcher Roki Sasaki’s arrival to the Major Leagues is highly anticipated. But, what is even more intriguing is which team will land the international free agent. With two Japanese natives — Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — on their roster,

The Mets were early adopters of NPB starting pitchers. Masato Yoshii was a rotation regular for the 1998 and 1999 Mets. At that point, only Hideo Nomo, Hideki Irabu and (briefly) Shigetoshi Hasegawa had started an MLB game in 35 years.

Unlike other high profile Japanese players, Sasaki will take less money by signing a minor league contract at age 23, betting on himself in hopes of a huge payday later.

Roki Sasaki burst onto the scene in Japan as a 19-year-old in 2021, posting a 1.84 ERA over 16 starts. He bounded onto the world stage when he joined a star-studded Japanese rotation that included Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

MLB insider predicts the Padres are "more likely" to sign Roki Sasaki than the Dodgers, with several teams in the mix for the young star.

The MLB world has been taken by storm after Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki announced to the world that he will […]

The Los Angeles Dodgers have long been viewed as co-favorites to sign Japanese starting pitcher Roki Sasaki, eyeing the young