Roki Sasaki rumors: Five finalists emerge, decision timeline, Dodgers advantage erased

With Corbin Burnes officially a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, the free agency focus turns to the next big pitching domino set to fall: Japanese ace Roki Sasaki, who now becomes the biggest name on the market — and quite possibly the biggest steal of the winter, considering how little he'll cost.

With a triple-digits fastball and wipeout splitter, Sasaki is one of the most talented pitchers in the world, and he's not yet entered his prime at age 23. The competition to secure his services has been fierce, with two-thirds of the league submitting a virtual presentation for the righty and his agent, Joel Wolfe. In-person meetings soon followed, and now it seems like the rubber is set to meet the road. Here's all the latest regarding Sasaki's free agency.

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Roki Sasaki Rumors: MLB insider reveals five 'obvious frontrunners'

Sasaki has conducted his first round of in-person meetings with teams he's interested in, and after giving them all a "homework assignment," he's set to fly back to the States for another round of meetings soon. As a new phase begins, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal appeared on Foul Territory to offer a quick overview of where things stand, focusing on five teams in particular: the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers as well as both New York teams, all of whom Rosenthal deemed "obvious front-runners".

All five of those teams are thought to have earned an in-person meeting with Sasaki over the last week or two, and while we don't know much about how those meetings went, it's safe to say that they're at the front of Sasaki's mind right now. Given their competitive track record and pitching development, they check a lot of boxes on the righty's wish list, although it remains to be seen whether he'll prioritize remaining on the West Coast and how he feels about pitching in a major media market.

Roki Sasaki Rumors: Decision expected after Jan. 20

While the Chibe Lotte Marines announced that they would post Sasaki back in November, said posting didn't actually take place until Dec. 9. Given a posting window of 45 days, that gives the righty until Thursday, Jan. 23, to make a decision — and it sounds like he intends on using up nearly all of that time.

According to a report from Francys Romero, Sasaki isn't expected to choose a team until the week of Jan. 20.

Which makes sense based on Sasaki's timeline. If he wants to conduct a second round of in-person meetings with his chosen finalists, that will likely take up all of next week, if not longer, giving Sasaki just a few days to ask follow-up questions and mull things over with his family. He's got a collectively bargained window at his disposal, why not use all of it?

Roki Sasaki Rumors: Japanese teammates not a huge factor

From the moment Sasaki opted to come to the States, there's been all sorts of speculation about just what it is he's looking for in his next team. Does he want to avoid a big market after negative experiences with the media in Japan? Is staying on the West Coast a must?

One thing we can definitively rule out, at least if Wolfe is to be believed? Sasaki doesn't appear to care much about whether he plays with any of his countrymen or not.

“We’ve had numerous conversations about team location, market size, teams’ success … but he doesn’t seem overly concerned about whether a team has Japanese players or not,” Wolfe toldMLB.com's Sonja Chen. “In the past, as I’ve represented Japanese players, that was sometimes an issue, but it was never a topic of discussion.”

The Dodgers were thought to have a bit of an edge here, having signed both Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — each of whom played with Sasaki on Team Japan at the 2023 World Baseball Classic — last winter. But while you could imagine why the righty might value the chance to have a teammate or two that he can speak with in his native language, it doesn't seem to be much of a factor at the moment. Whether that opens things up to a team like the Mets or Yankees remains to be seen.