Passan adds that Sasaki will decide by the closing of his posting window on January 23.

Though Sasaki won’t officially sign until MLB’s international signing period opens on January 15 at the earliest, news has started to trickle out about which teams are out of the running for the righty’s services. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported on Monday that both New York teams — the Mets and Yankees — are officially out. Reports have also surfaced that Sasaki has decided against signing with the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants.

Whoever winds up with Sasaki could potentially have the deal of the offseason. Despite Sasaki having ace-level stuff and an NPB track record to match, teams can only offer him money out of their international bonus pools, meaning he can’t sign a contract on par with other Japanese players like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Sasaki won’t be able to make big money until he hits free agency several years down the line.

Depending on the team, that means Sasaki’s maximum salary next year will be around $7.5 million. That’s helped level the playing field for teams going up against the big-spending Dodgers who could simply outbid their competition. LA does have the cachet of being the defending World Series champs on their side — as well as a stacked roster fully capable of repeating. But the Padres have Yu Darvish, Sasaki’s mentor, already on staff.

As for the Blue Jays, their window of contention is closing quickly with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette about to hit free agency, so Toronto needs to be as aggressive as anybody.

Once Sasaki signs, it will leave Jack Flaherty as the best remaining starting pitcher on the board. After him, the talent level drops significantly, giving all teams looking to bolster their rotations a sense of urgency.