MLB conducted investigation before Roki Sasaki release

Before Nippon Professional Baseball’s Chiba Lotte Marines officially released a right-hander Roki Sasaki for major league clubs last month, Major League Baseball conducted an investigation before authorizing Sasaki’s release. Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reported this afternoon that MLB’s investigation was intended to “ensure the memorandum of understanding was followed” and involved interviews with multiple parties. A report from Fabian Ardaya, Dennis Lin, Patrick Mooney, Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic added more details this evening, noting that the main focus of the league’s investigation was not Sasaki himself but rather the Marines. Both reports emphasize that the league found nothing to support rumors of an illegal arrangement.

That the league’s investigation focused on the Marines may seem somewhat surprising, but The Athletic’s report notes that the current posting system limits the Marines’ payout to just 25 percent of Sasaki’s total bonus. This is a small financial incentive for a club to part ways with its star player and not only does it represent a step back from the high posting fees of players like Yoshinobu Yamamoto And Seiya Suzuki have raised for their clubs in recent years, but also the $20 million publishing fee the Nippon Ham Fighters were able to charge in exchange for Ohtani’s services when he signed with the Angels as an international amateur according to the previous release system in December 2017. This relative lack of financial compensation for Sasaki’s services raised concerns among league officials about the possibility of under-the-table payment.

Although MLB’s investigation found no wrongdoing by either party, speculation around the game about the possibility of a handshake deal between Sasaki and the Dodgers became significant enough to eliciting a categorical denial from Wasserman’s agent Joel Wolfe, who represents the right-wing phenomenon. As described in The Athletic’s report, clubs around the game have felt uncertain about Sasaki’s goals throughout its release process, as teams like the Mariners and Red Sox have failed to land a meeting with the 23-year-old while big-market teams like the Cubs, Yankees, and Mets did so despite suggestions that he might prefer to avoid the spotlight.

Regardless of this confusion, it became clear earlier this week that Sasaki had narrowed things down to three finalists: the Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays, each of whom then visited Sasaki in their respective cities and began preparing their offers. According to The Athletic’s report, San Diego told Sasaki’s camp that they would be willing to trade to maximize their bonus pool and offer Sasaki all of those funds while the Dodgers lined up a trade with the Phillies to add additional money to the bonus pool in the event. that they landed Sasaki. The Blue Jays, however, have been particularly aggressive in their pursuit of Sasaki.

While all three clubs were clearly willing to add significant bonus dollars to bring in Sasaki, Toronto acquired $2 million in international bonus space from the Guardians by taking the majority of the money owed to the center . Myles Paille over the next two years, even though no deal has been reached with the right-hander. The impetus behind this trade ultimately didn’t work out for Toronto as Sasaki ended up choosing Los Angeles. Despite this, The Athletic’s report indicates that the Blue Jays believe Straw could be an interesting addition in his own right and that the money they have committed to signing him will not be prohibitive as they continue to look for ways to improve their list. In particular, the central defender Daulton Varsho isn’t expected to be ready for Opening Day and the addition of Straw could give the club some depth at the position while Varsho recovers.