During a January 3 appearance on Foul Territory TV, The Athletic’s MLB insider Ken Rosenthal called the New York Yankees one of the frontrunners in the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes.

“But it certainly seems like the teams that we’ve heard mentioned — the Dodgers, the Mets, the Yankees, the Padres, the Rangers, and some others — those are the obvious front-runners based on simply the fact that they have met with Sasaki and other teams have not,” Rosenthal said.

While this is surely good news for Yankees fans, it doesn’t assess how optimistic New York’s front office truly is in acquiring the 23-year-old Japanese phenom. But during a January 7 appearance on SNY’s Baseball Night in New York show, MLB.com insider Bryan Hoch conveyed that the Yankees are feeling confident about bringing Sasaki to the Bronx.

“They think they do,” Hoch said when asked if he thinks the Yankees have a realistic shot at signing Sasaki, per an X post from SNY. “Look, the Yankees thought they had realistic shots at [Shohei] Ohtani and [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto too. But I think that if there is not a geographical preference here… if that’s not in play here, the Yankees feel like they put together a good proposal here, and have really laid it out.

“They have a history of Japanese players who have come to the Yankees and enjoyed their time there, have been really recognizable stars,” Hoch added. “New York, if you want to be in a major market, that might be the place for you.”

Hoch did also note how Sasaki’s agent Joel Wolfe said a smaller market might be ideal for Sasaki, which is keeping him from being overly optimistic.

Still, Hoch’s conveying the Yankees’ confidence at this point is more than enough to have fans feeling hopeful Sasaki will be wearing pinstripes come Opening Day.