SF, who only looks at the roof while chasing chickens, looks at the 5-man rotation face, sighs only at LAD Arizona
Jan 14, 2025
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NPB's top fireballer, 23-year-old Sasaki Loki, has notified the San Francisco club of 'Exit'.
ESPN said on the 14th (Korea time) that the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and Toronto Blue Jays were among the finalists to sign Sasaki. 'The New York Yankees and the New York Mets were informed by Sasaki that they would not sign, and the Texas Rangers also did. Chicago Cubs and San Francisco announce they have ended negotiations' reports.
San Francisco held a press conference on the same day through a Zoom call to join Justin Verlander, who recently signed a one-year, $15 million contract, where San Francisco's general manager Jack Minasian officially announced that `We are no longer competing for Sasaki.'
San Francisco was one of eight clubs where Sasaki called in to LA, where agency Wasserman Sports is located, in late December last year and held face-to-face negotiations. Among them, the Yankees, Mets, Texas, and Cubs, including San Francisco, have been notified of 'fallout' from Sasaki in succession over the past one to two days.
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Burns signed a six-year, $210 million contract with West Division rival Arizona Diamondbacks at the end of last year. According to local media, Burns' most likely destinations were San Francisco and Toronto until shortly before the trip to Arizona became known. However, the offer level seems to have been low. Journalist Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicles said at the time that `the Giants were told they did not offer Burns a larger amount than Arizona.'
Journalist Slusser commented that the Giants are more likely to stay in fourth place in the NL West if Blake Snell, who left the Giants, chose Arizona, and San Diego boasts a strong lineup. `The Giants are seeking to recruit Japanese pitcher Sasaki, but he is an international amateur FA, so all clubs are coveting him.'
In other words, San Francisco is likely to miss Sasaki as well.
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It can be interpreted that San Francisco has not met all of these standards.
In the end, San Francisco failed to get the FA it wanted most this offseason as well. Sasaki is about the fifth to miss out on outstanding superstars. After Bryce Harper in 2019, Aaron Judge in 2022, and Shohei Ohtani in 2023, he was shunned by both Burns and Sasaki this offseason.
As a result, San Francisco is expected to run its rotation this season in the order of Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Verlander, Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison. It is true that the weight is significantly lower than that of the Dodgers and Arizona.
The Dodgers have four ace players, including Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani, and Arizona is also solid in both quantity and quality, including Burns, Jack Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez and Jordan Montgomery.
If Sasaki goes to the Dodgers or San Diego as expected, it would be a worst-case scenario for San Francisco.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
