A Serious Contender Has Emerged in Roki Sasaki Sweepstakes Competing With Dodgers, Padres

It’s now publicly known that the San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, and New York Mets are no longer in the running for Roki Sasaki.

Although the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres have long been the favorites to land the Japanese phenom, the Toronto Blue Jays are currently being considered as a serious contender, with ESPN’s Jeff Passan calling them one of the three finalists.

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Last week, Blue Jays officials hosted Sasaki in Toronto, according to The Athletic. The Padres have also had a second meeting with Sasaki in San Diego. Though it isn’t known whether the Dodgers have met with Sasaki a second time, Joel Wolfe of Wasserman, Sasaki’s agent, said meetings will take place up until his client signs.

“The timeline for Round 2 is going to lead right up until he signs,” Wolfe said recently. “We’re still talking and having Zoom calls. So I don’t have a precise timeline for that, like we did for the meetings. Teams will be notified at some point if there’s going to be additional meetings or travel or something like that. But other than that, I don’t believe there’s going to be any specific timeline.”

As Sasaki narrows down his list of suitors, the Dodgers are still in the mix. The Japanese phenom is expected to sign between Wednesday and Jan. 23, when his 45-day posting window closes.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said that the team hoped to entice Sasaki to join the reigning World Series Champions.

“He is someone that, obviously, is a major priority for us,” Friedman said at the Winter Meetings. “We are going to do whatever we can and know that there are a lot of other teams that are going to do the exact same thing. … We’re gonna put our best foot forward about what we feel like we can provide short-term, long-term, with our pitching group, veteran players, and do everything we can to put our best foot forward.”

The frenzy Monday morning is an indication Sasaki’s free agency is coming to an end. The Dodgers certainly have the most to offer Sasaki, but it appears he is seriously considering joining the Blue Jays or the Padres. The Blue Jays appear to be the wild card in the sweepstakes.

Catch up with all the latest Roki Sasaki news:

Dodgers’ Major NL West Rival Out of Roki Sasaki in Massive Development

Another Major Contender Officially Out of Roki Sasaki Sweepstakes as Dodgers Target Nears Decision

Dodgers Target Roki Sasaki Had Second Meeting With Padres and Blue Jays in Their Cities

Dodgers Lose International Signee to Pirates as LA Seems to Be All In on Roki Sasaki

Roki Sasaki Scouting Report: Full Breakdown of Dodgers Free Agent Target

Why Are the Dodgers the Best Landing Spot for Roki Sasaki?

Photo Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

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