Roki Sasaki rumors: Dodgers advantage stopped, Cubs ace up sleeve, Giants trump card

Roki Sasaki is still in the thralls of his decision-making process after seemingly almost completing his first round of meetings with MLB teams since being posted by Japan's Chiba Lotte Marines. Sasaki, to this point, has reportedly met with the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants. While he could add more teams to that list, it's looking more likely he'll begin eliminating teams next.

But after Sasaki's agent, Joel Wolfe, provided some updates and more clarity about what he might be looking for as he signs from the International Bonus Pool, we're starting to see some teams have advantages. So let's take a look at the latest rumors and what they could mean.

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Giants have one distinct advantage in the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes

Outside of Willy Adames and Matt Chapman, though it could be argued that those players though extremely talented might qualify as second-tier free agents, the San Francisco Giants have far too often ended up in the also-ran category when it comes to the best free agents or even trade sweepstakes. And with the rival Dodgers and Padres in the mix for Roki Sasaki, the fear it could happen again is definitely present.

And yet, there might be something that Sasaki is looking for that the Giants could potentially offer — and something that Buster Posey could certainly help sell the free agent on in any meeting.

Wolfe laid out a lot of the things on Sasaki's wishlist, per ESPN's Alden Gonzalez, but one that should stand out for the Giants is the desire for development and always looking to get better:

"He doesn't seem to look at it in the typical way that other players do. He has a more long-term, global view of things. I believe Roki is also very interested in the pitching development and how a team is going to help him get better, both in the near future and over the course of his career. He didn't seem overly concerned about whether a team had Japanese players on their team or not, which, in the past, when I represented Japanese players, that was sometimes an issue. That was never a topic of discussion."

Whether we're talking about Logan Webb currently or legends like Madison Bumgarner, Tim Lincecum and so many others in the modern era, the Giants have made a habit out of producing and developing home-grown stars on the mound. Sasaki wouldn't be all the way home-grown, but San Francisco undeniably has the blueprint to check that item on the 23-year-old righty's wish list.

Every team has its strengths that they can relay to Sasaki's wish list. For the Giants, though, this feels like a mighty big one that could be a true selling point to give them a leg up in this free agency race.

Cubs have ace in the hole with Sasaki no one's noticing

While the Chicago Cubs are among the teams that have scored an elusive meeting with Sasaki to this point, you'd also be hard-pressed to find many reasonable baseball minds who believe that he's likely to head to the Windy City. The Cubs have not been considered among the favorites to land his services this offseason but are still putting in the effort they can.

However, there's a chance that we should possibly take the Cubs more seriously. Not only did Wolfe reiterate that his client would consider any size market of team to sign with — not that Chicago is a small market, though it's not LA or New York — but one of his motivations for electing to be posted at 23 years old and sign for International Bonus Pool money instead of at 25 as a full-blown free agent was the success of Shota Imanaga with the Cubs, according to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN:

"Wolfe believes being around Ohtani and Yu Darvish during the World Baseball Classic in 2023 and watching Shota Imanaga dominate with the Cubs as a rookie in 2024 pushed Sasaki to challenge himself sooner.

"The sooner he could face the world's best hitters and utilize major league resources, the better it would make him."

Yes, Darvish of the Padres and Ohtani of the Dodgers were also part of that consideration. But San Diego and LA are widely considered the two frontrunners for Sasaki — should we also throw the Cubs in there? Not only did they embrace and find immense success with Imanaga immediately but the Japanese veteran could be someone to really help guide and mold Sasaki in his development coming to MLB.

Maybe it doesn't come to fruition for Chicago, but the writing on the wall says they should be given much more of a chance than we might be at this point.

Roki Sasaki stopped the Dodgers' biggest advantage

Basically from the moment that we found out that Sasaki was coming to Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers were considered the presumptive favorites to sign him. And why wouldn't they be? Not only did they weather a bevy of pitching injuries last season and could use another young upgrade of Sasaki's caliber, but they're the defending World Series champions with a super-team that may only be getting better.

Furthermore, the Dodgers have already flexed their muscles in terms of landing Japanese talent, specifically last offseason. Signing both Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto seemed like a distinct advantage for LA in this process. Just bring those future Dodgers teammates to meet with Sasaki and let that do the talking.

That plan, however, won't come to fruition. Wolfe said that he and Sasaki specifically requested that no players be involved in the meetings with the 23-year-old pitcher, as reported by Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times.

That takes a distinct advantage that many assumed the Dodgers had in this courtship out of their hands. For once, LA isn't sitting in that room with the trump card that they could use.

Now, to be sure, the Dodgers could easily just flash a World Series trophy and talk about what they accomplished with the duo of Japanese stars they added last year. So this isn't to say that the champs still don't look like a frontrunner to sign Sasaki. However, it is an interesting wrinkle in a free agency that has already had its share of surprising twists with more sure to come.