Don't come to Otani or Darvish Sasaki only thinks of himself as the only player to be excluded from the negotiations

Jan 02, 2025

Don't come to Otani or Darvish Sasaki only thinks of himself as the only player to be excluded from the negotiations
Contrary to initial expectations, Shohei Ohtani was confirmed not to have attended the negotiations when Rocky Sasaki met the LA Dodgers. AP Yonhap News



Don't come to Otani or Darvish Sasaki only thinks of himself as the only player to be excluded from the negotiations
사사키 로키. AP Yonhap News
In the first round of negotiations with seven clubs, Roki Sasaki, who is trying to advance to the Major League through the posting system, was found to have refused to face Japanese major leaguers.

Sasaki received recruitment proposals from 20 clubs at the same time as the posting was announced on the 11th of last month (Korea time) and selected seven of them for face-to-face negotiations. It was a format for Sasaki to receive visits from agent Joel Wolf and the clubs in LA.

According to local media reports, seven clubs, including the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres, had a chance to face Sasaki since the 21st of last month.




However, none of them participated in the negotiations. Because Sasaki didn't want to.

In other words, Japanese players who currently dominate the major leagues, including Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers, Yu Darvish of San Diego, Shota Imanaga of the Cubs, and Godai Senga of the Mets, were unable to attend negotiations to persuade Sasaki at all.

Don't come to Otani or Darvish Sasaki only thinks of himself as the only player to be excluded from the negotiations
Sasaki's agent Joel Wolf. AP Yonhap News
In a video interview with local media on the 31st, Wolf said, "One of the criteria in this negotiation is that Sasaki asked no players to attend." "Although the two teams brought video data of one or two players, most of them were from the general manager, deputy leader, manager, pitching coach, and biomechanics and training staff." he said.




It is the people of the club who came to meet Sasaki in person, but there were no players, and in most clubs, the general manager, the deputy leader, the manager, and the pitching coach participated in the negotiations.

Here, Sasaki did not visit any of the sites. Sasaki, who is currently considering choosing a team in Japan, only travels to and from LA, where the agency is located, but has not visited other regions.

Regarding the timing of Sasaki's decision, Wolf said, `It will be between January 16th when the international contract starts in the new year and the 24th when the posting ends, but this case is very unique, very special player.' It is unlikely that Sasaki will make any decision when the international contract period does not begin. He's definitely sending a signal that he's driving the ship," he replied.




Don't come to Otani or Darvish Sasaki only thinks of himself as the only player to be excluded from the negotiations
사사키 로키. AP Yonhap News
Wolf then said "Sasaki is reviewing the materials from a long-term and global perspective. I think I'm very interested in the pitching development system and how I can help develop myself in the near future and throughout my career"I don't think he cares much about it without Japanese players. That was important to the Japanese players I represented in the past, but now it's not an issue at all."

Regarding the teams that sent the presentation materials this time, Wolf was like "Roki film festival." I received a high level of presentation, which is diverse and unique. I also sent presentations such as PowerPoint with depth and short films. They also made actual books. "They studied Sasaki, his life background, his professional career for hundreds of hours," he exclaimed with admiration.

Nothing has been decided yet about Sasaki's next move. However, based on the results of the negotiations with seven clubs, it is expected that the final negotiating team will be selected and the process of actually visiting the relevant city will proceed.

Don't come to Otani or Darvish Sasaki only thinks of himself as the only player to be excluded from the negotiations
Roki Sasaki, Shohei Ohtani, and Yu Darvish standing side by side during the commemorative photo shoot for the Japanese national team at the WBC in Japan in March 2023. AP Yonhap News


This article was translated by Naver AI translator.

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