The Chicago Cubs fell short in the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes.
The 23-year-old Japanese right-hander signed with the world champion Los Angeles Dodgers, he announced Friday on Instagram. As an international amateur free agent, teams could sign him only with money from their international bonus pool for the 2025 signing period, which began Wednesday. Sasaki’s posting window was set to expire Thursday.
Although the Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays were viewed as front-runners for Sasaki within the industry, the Cubs were hoping their recent history with Japanese players Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki and their success in the majors would appeal to another player looking to go from Nippon Professional Baseball to Major League Baseball. That track record evidently wasn’t enough to sway Sasaki to sign with the Cubs.
Twenty teams initially submitted presentations to Sasaki, his agent, Joel Wolfe, said last month, to kick-start the process. A handful of teams then received in-person meetings with Sasaki in Los Angeles, the Cubs among them. As part of those meetings, which were limited to two hours, each team was given a homework assignment to show Sasaki how they can analyze and communicate information with him.
“Roki is by no means a finished product,” Wolfe said Dec. 30. “He knows it and the teams know it. He’s incredibly talented. We all know that, but he is a guy that wants to be great. He’s not coming here just to be rich or to get a huge contract. He wants to be great. He wants to be one of the greatest ever.”
Without Sasaki, the Cubs still could use another proven starter to join the rotation and help raise the ceiling on a group led by Imanaga, Justin Steele and right-hander Jameson Taillon.
