The Belle of the Ball with regards to this year’s international signing class, Sasaki will have his choice of interested teams when he signs in the next 10 days. The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres appear the favorites, but the Blue Jays, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners are at least lurking.
Going after Sasaki represents another big swing by the Blue Jays front office, who have whiffed on Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and Teoscar Hernandez in the last two offseasons.
Just 23 years old, Sasaki throws more than 100 MPH and has, perhaps, the best splitter in the world. On the surface, the Jays don’t need him: They already have five starters in Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Jose Berrios, Bowden Francis and Yariel Rodriguez.
But, signing Sasaki could have a big trickle-down effect, as it might allow Rodriguez to head to the bullpen and strengthen that unit, which was one of the worst in baseball last season.
Signed to a deal worth more than $30 million last offseason, Rodriguez will have to feature prominently in the Jays plans somewhere, and the bullpen may end up being a good spot for him. He went just 1-8 as a starter last season with a 4.47 ERA. He has a mid-90s fastball, a good slider and a good changeup, and could certainly act as a multi-inning weapon in the ‘pen. The Blue Jays have already signed Yimi Garcia and Jeff Hoffman this winter, so a Rodriguez addition could be a nice way to cap their rebuild of that group.
