NEW YORK (AP) The New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants have been informed that Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki will not sign with them.
Giants general manager Zack Minasian announced on Monday during a press conference introducing Justin Verlander that San Francisco was no longer in contention.
Sasaki’s decision to eliminate the Yankees and Rangers was disclosed to The Associated Press by people familiar with the negotiations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because Sasaki’s intention to sign elsewhere had not been announced. The decision regarding New York was first reported by the Yankees’ YES Network.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres are considered the favorites to sign the 23-year-old right-hander, while the Toronto Blue Jays are another possibility.
Under MLB’s international amateur signing rules and the postal system between Major League Baseball and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, Sasaki can sign with an MLB team during a period beginning on Wednesday at 9:00 AM EST and ending on January 23 at 5:00 PM EST .
Because Sasaki is under 25 and has played less than six seasons in the NPB, he is classified as an international amateur and limited to a minor league contract, subject to international signing bonus pools, which range from $7,555,500 to $5,146,200 . Starting Wednesday, teams can make trades to increase their assigned signing bonus by up to 60% from their original figure.
Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, has not publicly identified the eligible teams. Sasaki also reportedly met with the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs.
Sasaki’s fastball reaches 100 mph. He was 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 games last year and struck out 129 batters in 111 innings in a season limited by shoulder infections. He has a career record of 29-15 with a 2.10 ERA over four injury-shortened seasons with the Marines.
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AP Baseball writers Stephen Hawkins and Janie McCauley contributed to this report.
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