Ten MLB Teams Saw Generational Japanese Pitching Prospect Roki Sasaki And Decided He Wasn't Worth Their Time To Express Any Interest In Signing Him Despite His Upcoming Contract Being Essentially Free

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20 days remain on Roki Sasaki's window to sign with an MLB team. The 23 year old Japanese phenom officially decided late in 2024 that he would be coming over to the United States, leaving Japan early and forgoing potentially hundreds of millions of dollars that he would have received if he had waited a few more years. Instead he'll only be able to sign a minor league deal, with a signing bonus of "just" a couple million dollars. Shohei Ohtani did the same thing when he first came over while Yoshinobu Yamamoto put pen to paper on a $325M deal last offseason. This upcoming Sasaki deal is a steal of all steals, but he's hellbent on starting his MLB career early and becoming great so he's passing on the big check for now. 

A pitcher of Sasaki's talents being available on the free agent market for as cheap as he will be does not happen ever. Look at some of this shit during the WBC. 

You would think every team would at least express some interest in signing him, even the small market organizations. Why is that? Well his agent Joel Wolfe hinted that Roki might prefer a smaller market team with how much heat he got from the Japanese media when he struggled. 

So not only does he come dirt cheap, but he might actually want to start with a lesser viewed team to get his feet wet. Considering the talent there should not be a single team who passes on showing interest on this dude. Yet…

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(SI) After Roki Sasaki was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines on Dec. 10, his agent, Joel Wolfe, reached out to all 30 Major League Baseball teams with a letter inviting them to submit "any type of information that they wanted Roki to review."

The response was substantial, with 20 teams showing interest.

Ten teams in Major League Baseball saw all of this and didn't even bother reaching out. How do you not instantly fire everyone in your front office if your on that list? Like what are you doing? It's organizational malpractice. What is your goal if you're not pursuing this dude? Even if you think he's too much of a max effort guy and won't hold up physically, you're signing him to a minor league contract. There is NOTHING to lose and everything to gain. 10 GMs said no thanks, we got other shit to do. Even if you truly believe you have no shot, what's the harm in reaching out? You just accept that your team is garbage and your organization couldn't possibly entice this guy to join you? Whatever your answer is for not pursuing him it's damning. 

When you think about it, ten is a lot of teams. And even worse, the White Sox weren't part of that group!

Think about this: the 121 loss Chicago White Sox had enough common sense to entertain an interest in Roki Sasaki. Who are these 10 teams? The Rockies I assume are a lock to be on there because they're the Rockies. Maybe some East coast team like the Marlins, Nats, and Pirates? The A's are the kings of dysfunction so they can't be counted out. You'd think after the Ohtani era that the Angels would have been in the mix, right? Are the Rays out because it's Florida? Blue Jays not bother because it's another country? 

There is no excuse to not be interested in this guy. I can't wrap my head around it. Sure he probably signs with the Dodgers or Padres at the end of the day, but why not try and throw your hat in the ring? I don't get it. Some baseball teams are truly run so poorly it's beyond stunning. I'll scream and stomp my feet about Brian Cashman constantly, but there are teams out there so truly fucked by their front office and ownership that the police should intervene.