NPB analyst gives $400,000,000 price tag on Shohei Ohtani's free agent compatriot in unrestricted open market

The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes is going to be exciting as all 30 teams have a fair shot at securing his services for the next two years. Because of his age, the 23-year-old Japanese pitcher has to be signed within the international bonus pool that limits clubs to a certain amount.

On Friday's episode of "The Baltimore Banner" podcast, Nippon Professional Baseball analyst Yuri Kurasawa said that if the same free agency rules apply to Sasaki as other players aged 25 or older, he would earn more than $300 million, perhaps even touching $400 million.

"Someone of his caliber deserves upwards of $300 million," Kawamura said (36:20). "If he's on the open market right now with no restrictions put on him he's probably a $400 million pitcher if we're being honest. But he's not going to be making that he's going to be making a couple million dollars actually so this is an absolute steal for any team."

The Japanese sportscaster added that since Sasaki's decision will not be restricted by money matters, he will choose a club that suits his pitching style and where he will grow.

"His decision is completely dependent on things like geographic location comfort level pitching development trust in the organization things like that it has really nothing to do with money at this point," Kawamura said. "I just I don't think that a couple hundred, in one way or another is going to affect his decision you know based on certain teams having more money available in the bonus pool."

Roki Sasaki prefers the West Coast, likely to sign with Dodgers or Padres

MLB insider Jon Heyman said on Friday that like other Japanese players, Roki Sasaki might have a preference for the West Coast and his decision could come down to two teams. The LA Dodgers were already one of the favorites to sign him, having scouted him for years, while their divisional rivals, the San Diego Padres, have also emerged as possible contenders.

Both teams have Japanese stars. LA has Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who were teammates of Sasaki at the World Baseball Classic in 2023. On San Diego's side, Yu Darvish will likely persuade Sasaki to join the Padres.