Chicago Cubs Rumors: Roki Sasaki would change offseason discourse

Chicago Cubs' President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer took a trip to Japan in August where he was spotted a start for Japanese starting pitcher Roki Sasaki.

There is some uncertainty surrounding when Sasaki will be made available to Major League Baseball. Sasaki has asked to be posted in the past but his current team, the Chiba Lotte Mariners, declined. The reason behind the Mariner's declining the request is that Sasaki has yet to reach the age of 25. This means that if he is posted now, he would be subject to the international free agent rules.

To put it in layman's terms, if Sasaki is posted now, he would not be getting the $325MM contract that Yoshinobu Yamamoto received last season from the Los Angeles Dodgers. International free agent rules limit Sasaki to only receiving a bonus no greater than $10MM if he is posted before the age of 25. As we mentioned before, there are reasons to believe the Cubs would be very interested in Sasaki if he is posted before he turns 25.

In looking at the talent pipeline the Cubs have created with their past signings of Yu Darvish, Seiya Suzuki, and Shota Imanaga, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic (Subscription Required) mentions that the Cubs would be interested in Sasaki if he is posted this winter.

The next potential big name who could come stateside is Roki Sasaki. The righty will turn 23 in November, but it’s still unclear whether he’ll be posted this winter. If he does, Sasaki wouldn’t be a normal free agent like Yamamoto and his salary would be restricted by the international free agent rules, limiting him to a bonus under $10 million. The Cubs, along with every team in baseball, will be very interested in acquiring his services.

It remains more beneficial to any Major League Baseball team for Sasaki to be posted now as opposed to after he turns 25. For that reason, it would be a bigger story if it was reported that the Cubs wouldn't be interested in Sasaki this winter.

Sasaki would certainly be considered an impact talent. While earlier reports were that the Cubs are expecting to add an established starting pitcher this offseason, Sasaki would be an exception to the idea of "an established starter". Having said that, the idea of having a 23-year-old ace who can also touch 100 mph is a worthwhile exception.