Roki Sasaki's talent unmatched in MLB, claims Cubs' Shota Imanaga ahead of 23-year-old's free agency

Roki Sasaki, one of the most promising talents from the NPB, will enter MLB this season. Sasaki, who is still classified as an "international amateur" and is only 23 years old, provides MLB teams with the opportunity to acquire a pitcher who has the potential to be one of the league's finest in the future.

A few Japanese players already playing in the major leagues know Sasaki quite well. One of those is Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Shota Imanaga, who shared the Team Japan locker room with Sasaki during their 2023 WBC winning campaign.

"I was teammates with him during the WBC, I've spent some time with him. I would say, just looking at him, he has a fastball that goes above 100 miles per hour, and a forkball with so much drop," Imanaga said on Friday with the help of his translator, Edwin Stanberry [0:50].

"It's hard to really see anybody else with those characteristics, so I think he's going to do well [in the major leagues]," he added.

Settling into life in the major leagues and eventually thriving is something Shota Imanaga knows well. The starter joined the Cubs from the Yokohama DeNA Baystars prior to the 2024 season and had an excellent first season with a 2.91 ERA, 174 strikeouts and a 15-3 record.

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Decision to post Roki Sasaki in 2024 is advantageous for MLB franchises, per scouting executive

Roki Sasaki's current team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, has consented to post their 23-year-old player, allowing interested MLB teams to pursue his acquisition. Due to international bonus pool laws and restrictions, any NPB player under the age of 25 who enters the majors is only entitled to the equivalent of a rookie contract, which is capped at $5.75 million per season.

For this reason, the Chiba Lotte Marines stand to gain much less than what they would have if Sasaki left after turning 25. However, the Marines' loss is very much the MLB's gain, as one scouting executive believes Sasaki would be commanding a huge fee if he were coming over two years later.

"I think it would be $275-300 million if he was in an open market, for 10 years -- that’s what I would think he’d get. The sky is the limit for this guy." one scouting executive told MLB.com.

Roki Sasaki in a training session for team Japan during the 2023 WBC. Source: Getty

Having played for the Chiba Lotte Marines himself in the 2024 season, pitcher James Dykstra knows exactly what Sasaki can do much better than most others. Since his debut in 2021, Sasaki already has two NPB All-Star caps to his name, also holding the NPB record for the most strikeouts in a game, getting 19 Ks for the Marines against the Orix Buffaloes on April 10, 2022.

It remains to be seen which MLB franchise eventually manages to acquire the 23-year-old this winter, but for the competition as a whole, Roki Sasaki's incredible talent will be a great addition.