The secret weapon that might give the Blue Jays an edge in Roki Sasaki sweepstakes

When word first broke that Roki Sasaki had narrowed his list of finalists down to just three, most assumed that the Toronto Blue Jays were included as a mere courtesy. This has been considered a two-team race between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres from even before Sasaki was posted back in December, and Toronto has developed a nasty habit of finishing as the runner-up in these sorts of sweepstakes.

But while L.A. and San Diego may indeed still be the leaders for Sasaki's services, the longer this goes on the more it seems like the righty really is considering the Jays. There's no extra money to be gained by wielding leverage here, after all, and spending multiple days in Toronto likely isn't something he'd do just for the fun of it.

The Jays may not have the roster that the Dodgers or Padres do, nor the history of recent success. But Toronto might have a connection that could help tilt the scales in its direction here nonetheless.

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Blue Jays might have hidden advantage in Roki Sasaki chase

TSN Blue Jays reporter Scott Mitchell offered an update on the team's pursuit of Sasaki on Wednesday morning, and it included a couple of interesting tidbits. The first is that Yusei Kikuchi — Sasaki's friend and countryman — helped sell the righty on Toronto despite no longer pitching there himself. The second is a bit more behind the scenes, but no less important.

You might not know the name Frank Herrmann; an undrafted free agent back in 2006, he posted a 4.72 ERA over parts of three seasons in the Majors with Cleveland Philadelphia. But it's what he did after that which could affect the fate of one of the biggest free agents on the market this winter.

After washing out of MLB, Herrmann took his career to Japan, first with the Rakuten Golden Eagles and then, for two seasons, with the Chiba Lotta Marines — the latter of whom also happened to employ a righty named Roki Sasaki. Herrmann and Sasaki overlapped in 2021, Sasaki's rookie season, in which the 19-year-old posted a a 2.27 ERA and 68 strikeouts across 63.1 innings of work.

Herrmann retired that winter, and in February of 2022 he took a job in the Blue Jays front office. It's unclear to what extent he and Sasaki still have a relationship, but Mitchell reports that he's been involved with the recruitment so far, and it stands to reason that having a former teammate around will help sell him on joining a new organization. We're just reading tea leaves here, and if Sasaki wants to stay on the West Coast or compete for a World Series this season, we know where he'll end up. But maybe the Jays aren't as long of a shot here as we previously thought.