The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes are down to three teams.
ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Monday that the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres are the finalists for Sasaki's services and that the Japanese right-hander will decide on his next team by the end of his posting window on Jan. 23.
The news follows reports from across MLB Monday that Sasaki's camp had been informing interested teams that he has ruled them out of contention for his services.
The New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets and Chicago Cubs were among the teams that reportedly received meetings with Sasaki, and were eliminated on Monday, according to sources in each of their respective markets.
It has been reported that Sasaki had visited the Blue Jays in Toronto and the Padres in San Diego as part of his process. Sasaki's agent, Joel Wolfe, is a part of the Wasserman Group, which hosted other clubs for in-person meetings at its offices in Los Angeles.
Under MLB’s international amateur signing rules and the posting system between Major League Baseball and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league, Sasaki can sign with an MLB team during a window starting at 9 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. PT Wednesday and ending 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT on Jan. 23.
Because Sasaki is under 25 and has not played six seasons in NPB, he is classified as an international amateur and limited to a minor league contract subject to international signing bonus pools, which range from $5,146,200 to $7,555,500. Starting Wednesday, teams may make trades to increase their signing bonus allotment by up to 60 per cent from their initial figure.
Wolfe has not publicly identified teams under consideration.
Sasaki's fastball tops 100 m.p.h. He was 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 games last year, striking out 129 hitters in 111 innings in a season limited by shoulder inflammation. He has a 29-15 career record with a 2.10 ERA over four injury-shortened seasons with the Marines.
— With files from The Associated Press
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