Roki Sasaki Hot Stove: MLB insider predicts Dodgers as favorites but weighs Padres’ strong case for Japanese phenom

The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes could be nearing their climatic end sooner rather than later. The Japanese pitching sensation will be first eligible to sign with an MLB club on Wednesday. While there is a chance that he will continue to ride it out until the Jan. 23 deadline, there have already been significant updates regarding where he will, or more importantly, not land.

On Monday, a number of clubs were reportedly eliminated from the running in the sweepstakes. The New York Mets, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs were reportedly informed that Sasaki would no longer consider them as potential destinations.

This leaves the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays as the finalists to sign Sasaki, according to multiple sources. MLB insider Ken Rosenthal predicted how the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes will play out on Tuesday's episode of "Foul Territory."

"I would still have to go with the chalk, the Dodgers, but I would not be surprised by the Padres. I would be surprised by the Blue Jays, but the Padres would really not surprise me," Rosenthal said.

There is some turmoil right now for the Padres from an ownership perspective as Peter Seidler's widow, Sheel Seidler, is in the middle of a lawsuit involving the late owner's brothers, Matt and Bob Seidler. That being said, Rosenthal is unsure if that ongoing situation might affect the Sasaki outcome.

"I don't know if it's going to matter to Roki Sasaki," Rosenthal added. "Maybe it should and maybe if he's looking at the bigger picture, that's what he's looking at. He also can say, "This is going to resolve; I'm going to be in San Diego. I'm going to be with Yu Darvish. I'm going to be with a team that has been on the rise."

Roki Sasaki is slated to meet with Los Angeles Dodgers again on Tuesday

Toronto Blue Jays and San Diego Padres will be hoping to land the potential superstar pitcher. However, they may have some cause for concern as the 23-year-old and his team are reportedly set to meet with the Los Angeles Dodgers again on Tuesday.

According to MLB insiders Ken Rosenthal and Fabian Ardaya, some of the team's star players are expected to be present for the meeting. It remains to be seen which players will be there, but it would be unsurprising to see Shohei Ohtani in attendance to convince Sasaki to join the World Series champs.