![\"Roki](\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Roki-Sasakis-agent-drops-eye-opening-comment-that-will-frustrate-Dodgers-Yankees.jpg?w=1200\")
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Chiba Lotte, Roki Sasaki\u2018s Japanese team, posted the pitching phenom this week, meaning the 23-year-old will soon begin meeting with Major League Baseball teams.<\/p>\n
While the usual MLB heavy hitters like the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers will surely make their pitches, Sasaki\u2019s agent gave some real hope to small and mid-market teams.<\/p>\n
Agent Joel Wolfe met with the media in Dallas at the MLB Winter Meetings on Tuesday where he shed some light on what Sasaki might look for in a destination.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that there\u2019s an argument to be made that a\u00a0smaller mid-market team\u00a0may be more beneficial for him as a soft landing, coming from Japan, given what he\u2019s been through,\u201d Wolfe said. \u201cGiven what he\u2019s been through and not having an enjoyable experience with the media, it might be\u2026 I\u2019m not saying it will be, it might be beneficial for him to be in a smaller market. But I really don\u2019t know how he looks at it yet because I haven\u2019t had a chance to really sit down and discuss it with him in great detail.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Wolfe expanded on that, saying the Japanese media\u00a0has been tough\u00a0on him in recent years, but that will not stop him from fulfilling his Big League dreams \u2014 even if it\u2019s not with the Dodgers or Yankees.<\/p>\n \u201cRoki\u2019s had a tough go of it the last couple of years,\u201d he said. \u201cThe media in Japan has been very tough on him. He\u2019s not had a great time with it. And I think it\u2019s my personal opinion I think it\u2019s been a bit unfair. And it\u2019s affected him mentally a little bit. But he\u2019s a great kid and he comes from a great family \u2026 his dream is to come here to the major leagues and I think that he hasn\u2019t really wrapped his head around the individual teams and the individual cities and he just really doesn\u2019t know much about them.\u201d<\/p>\n At 23, Sasaki is not eligible to sign a mega-deal like Yoshinobu Yamamoto did last winter with the Dodgers. Instead, he can only sign a minor league deal as an international amateur. Any major payday is going to have to wait.So why now? Sasaki has dominated the Japan Pacific League, pitching to a 2.35 ERA in 2024 and a 1.78 ERA in 2023.<\/p>\n According to Wolfe, it\u2019s not the money that\u2019s moving the needle for him right now.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no absolutes in baseball, there are no absolutes in life and through Roki Sasaki\u2019s eyes \u2014 and if you look at some of the things that have happened in his life \u2014 some of the tragedies that have happened in his life, he does not take anything for granted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Wolfe is likely referring to Sasaki losing his father in the earthquake and tsunami that tore through Japan in 2011.<\/p>\n The international signing window opens on January 15 and Wolfe is hopeful that Sasaki will make his decision<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chiba Lotte, Roki Sasaki\u2018s Japanese team, posted the pitching phenom this week, meaning the 23-year-old will soon begin meeting with Major League Baseball teams. While the usual… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16998,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Roki Sasaki is making his MLB move now<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Japan](\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Roki-Sasaki_78080f.jpg\")
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