Roki Sasaki just gave Yankees golden chance to atone for botched Juan Soto pitch

Just weeks after falling short to their crosstown rivals for Soto, New York got a second chance to out-pitch Steve Cohen head-to-head.
World Baseball Classic Semifinals: Mexico v Japan
World Baseball Classic Semifinals: Mexico v Japan / Eric Espada/GettyImages
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Second chances don't come around all that often in sports, but the New York Yankees just got handed a golden one. The New York Mets had already spoiled their crosstown rival's offseason by poaching Juan Soto (and embarrassing Hal Steinbrenner in the process). But it seemed like they'd managed to rained all over the Yankees' parade one more time on Thursday, when word leaked that David Stearns and Co. had just conducted an in-person meeting with sought-after Japanese ace Roki Sasaki — seemingly beating the Yankees to the punch just one day after Brian Cashman revealed his team's own Sasaki meeting.

But as it turns out, maybe the Mets hadn't gotten another one over on the Yankees after all. The latest development in the Sasaki sweepstakes should talk Yankees fans back off the ledge, at least for now, while setting up a second titanic free-agent clash between two of the games richest teams.

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Roki Sasaki puts Mets, Yankees head-to-head one more time this winter

Just when it seemed like the Mets had jumped the line, the New York Post's Jon Heyman set the record straight, reporting that both New York teams had actually held meetings with Sasaki in Los Angeles on Thursday.

It's still unclear just what either the Mets or Yankees discusse during their time with the 23-year-old righty and his team. Heck, it's still unclear exactly what Sasaki is looking for as he makes the jump to the Majors; even his agent, Joel Wolfe, admitted at the Winter Meetings that he was still getting to know his client as the process began.

What we do know is that Sasaki could very well be the most important signing of the offseason not named Juan Soto. For starters, he's among the most talented pitchers in the world right now; in four seasons with Nippon Professional Baseball's Chiba Lotte Marines, Sasaki tallied a 2.10 ERA, a 0.894 WHIP, a 29-15 win-loss record, 505 strikeouts and 88 walks in 394.2 innings, boasting a triple-digit fastball and a wipeout splitter. But he also stands to be among the very best values on the market: Because he's considered an international amateur free agent, teams can only sign him using their international bonus pool money, meaning that he'll essentially be paid like a Minor Leaguer over the first few years of his MLB career.

Sasaki can only sign between Jan. 15-23, when the international signing period officially opens. But he's already started winnowing the field: While every team was permitted to send a virtual presentation to the player and his team, in-person meetings are invitation-only, with the Mets, Yankees and Chicago Cubs among those who've been confirmed to have made the cut. (And the Philadelphia Phillies among those who have not.)

It's entirely possible that Sasaki, like so many Japanese stars before him, has his heart set on the West Coast, and he ends up with the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Diego Padres. But he's at least interested enough in playing in New York to hear what the Mets and Yankees have to say, and that gives Cashman the perfect chance to prove that whiffing on Soto doesn't mean that his team has permanently ceded ground to the one-time little brother in Queens.

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