Kodai Senga makes it clear there was never a chance Roki Sasaki would sign with Mets

The New York Mets, just like every other MLB team, were interested in signing Roki Sasaki. Why wouldn't they have been? Sasaki is a 23-year-old phenom who, due to international free agency rules, could only sign a minor league contract with a signing bonus. Instead of earning over $300 million like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Sasaki could only make as much money salary-wise as any MLB rookie. Getting a pitcher with Cy Young upside on a minor league deal is the biggest steal of the offseason.

Sure enough, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes, adding him to what could be the most talented rotation in MLB history. Sasaki is probably Los Angeles' fourth or fifth-best starter, while he'd be virtually any other team's ace or No. 2 starter.

The Dodgers ended up signing Sasaki for a variety of reasons. They're the best team, they're in a big market, they have other Japanese stars on their roster. One issue brought up by Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga, though, proves that New York never had much of a chance to land Sasaki.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.

Kodai Senga makes it clear that East Coast teams are at a severe disadvantage when recruiting Japanese talent

When West Coast teams are usually favored by Japanese players, most assume that's because the West Coast is closer to Japan. Senga believes there's more to that. The weather in Southern California is a lot nicer in the beginning and end of the baseball season than it is in New York and on the East Coast. That definitely played a part, according to Senga. He adds that the Mets need to build a roof.

Well, unfortunately for Senga and the Mets, team owner Steve Cohen does not appear to be interested at all in building a roof, even if it means having more luck recruiting Japanese talent.

If Senga is right, and there's no reason to believe he isn't, this is just another box that East Coast teams cannot check. The Mets have seemingly everything a player like Sasaki could have wanted, a good team, a huge market, improving pitching development, and another Japanese pitcher to pitch alongside, and yet, New York wasn't even a finalist to sign him, while a team like the Toronto Blue Jays was. Chances are, the Jays having a domed stadium helped their case.

None of the teams on the East Coast outside of the Jays, the Miami Marlins, and the Tampa Bay Rays (when Tropicana Field is rebuilt) have roofs, making their odds of recruiting Japanese talent even slimmer.

Fortunately for the Mets, despite their lack of a roof, they were able to recruit Senga. Sure, he did not come with nearly the same kind of hype as the likes of Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but he did have an outstanding year with the Mets when healthy in 2023. Hopefully, the same kind of year is in store for Senga in 2025, as the Mets will attempt to dethrone Sasaki, Yamamoto, and the Dodgers in October.