Seattle Mariners Executives Confirm Pursuit of Japanese Ace Roki Sasaki

The Seattle Mariners went through the first day of MLB Winter Meetings in Dallas on Monday without making a move. But there was some clarity on what moves the team will be attempting to make in the offseason.

Monday offered confirmation that Seattle was going to make a run at signing Japanese ace and Nippon Professional Baseball star Roki Sasaki.

The NPB's record holder for most strikeouts in a single game was posted to sign with MLB teams on Monday. He'll be available to sign for 45 days. The deadline to sign is set for Jan. 23.

There was a report from Francys Romero saying that Sasaki is expected to meet with teams on Dec. 15, three days after Winter Meetings end.

The Mariners' pitch for Sasaki is likely to be focused on the pitching development of the club. Of the team's five starting pitchers, four were drafted and developed by the organization. And Seattle's President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto spoke more about the team's pitch for Sasaki in a story written by the Seattle Times' Adam Jude.

“We have established ourselves over the last four seasons as a really good team,” Dipoto said. “We’re in the mix year in and year out. We play in an awesome environment. We have, if it’s not the best rotation in league, is one of the best rotations in league. We are, I think, positioned better than most to be able to accommodate a six-man rotation, if that’s required.
"There are a lot of positives that are potentially in our favor.”

Sasaki is still just 23 years-old, meaning he's only eligible for a minor league deal. Most of the money given to him will be via signing bonus and will come from the international signing period.

Sasaki won't sign until at least Jan. 15, when the international signing period moves over to 2025. The Mariners are among the teams with the highest available funds available at $7.6 million and could increase it to $12.16 million by adding 60% of the original max amount to its available international funds.

Seattle, on top of its pitching development, has a long history of signing solid Japanese-born players. Ichiro Suzuki is one of the greatest hitters in MLB history and is likely going to be inducted in the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame. Hisashi Iwakuma, Yusei Kikuchi and Kazuhiro Sasaki are among other Japanese players that had sucess in the Pacific Northwest.

Sasaki had a 2.35 ERA in 2024 with 129 strikeouts in 111 innings pitched across 18 starts.