Japanese baseball legend puts Roki Sasaki on full blast for joining MLB

Roki Sasaki has MLB free agency buzzing even more so than they already were with Juan Soto on the market this offseason. The 23-year-old Japanese pitcher is set to be posted this offseason by the Chiba Lotte Marines and, with an elite fastball, devastating splitter and room to get even better, teams and fans are salivating at the thought of bringing him into the top of a major-league rotation.

And why shouldn't they be? Sasaki is an outlier, coming to MLB at just 23 years old not only gives him the opportunity for a much longer career in the majors than we typically see but, as Japanese posting rules for MLB go, he'll be much cheaper for clubs this offseason as it'll be as an international prospect. If he were over 25 years old, that posting fee would be much higher, as would his salary.

Despite the interest in MLB and the way that Sasaki has captured fans' attention, though, his move to MLB is not all that popular to at least one Japanese baseball legend.

Tatsuro Hirooka, who was a five-time Japan Series champion as a player for the Yomiuri Giants and a three-time Japan Series champion as a manager in addition to being the GM of the Lotte Marines in the 1990s, went completely nuclear on Sasaki for the move to MLB, calling him "selfish" and much more as the pitcher made it clear his sights were set on MLB.

Japanese baseball legend Tasuro Hirooka calls out Roki Sasaki for move to MLB

In an interview with Yahoo! Japan, Hirooka said that the Lotte Marines decision to post him at 23 years old, while the legend didn't fault them for ultimately receiving less money for doing so, may have been the club simply growing tired of the start right-hander:

"Lotte must have had enough of Sasaki's selfishness. You could even say they've given up. Even during the season, the team was at the mercy of Sasaki, who would say, 'That hurts,' or 'That's what's wrong.' The 25-year-old rule? On the contrary, the team will be stronger without such a selfish player. It would be better if he left a year earlier."

That's quite a damning way to look at the situation with Sasaki, basically insinuating that he was a nuiscance for the Lotte Marines. At the same time, though, it's hard to completely say that really affected his performance. In four NPB seasons with the club, Sasaki posted a 2.02 ERA with a minuscule 0.883 WHIP. He was as dominant as his stuff would say he should be.

Hirooka didn't stop there, though. Beyond the selfishness he belabored, the 92-year-old also predicted that Sasaki will fail and end up back in Japan.

"In MLB, where contracts need to be earned, he will get fired and end up back in Japan, where some players, like Yakult’s Norichika Aoki produced upon their return, while others, such as Daisuke Matsuzaka, just got a ton of money without doing anything to earn it. It’s time for the commissioner to take the lead on this and fix the rules that allow for this."

He added more to that later.

"He’s going to fail, no doubt about it. In MLB now pitchers have to work on four or five days’ rest, and if he tries that, he’s going to break down. He lacks the physical strength now. Even Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who won three straight Sawamura Awards got hurt."

That's not exactly a ringing endorsement, to say the least. At the same time, though, does he not think that MLB teams are aware of the risks involved with Sasaki? There will be programs in place to get him in better shape for a more rigorous MLB within whatever organization signs him, there will be a learning curve, and there should be patience. But all of that is also worth it at the price combined with the exquisite pitching that the 23-year-old can provide and be molded using.

So no, I don't believe that any of this will deter Major League Baseball in their pursuit of Sasaki. However, it might be something to keep in mind, even if it's something to look back on in a couple of years (or even at the end of 2025) and shake your head at with how wrong Hirooka was.