This is probably more of a MLB wild post but Roki Sasaki is coming over.
Dodgers big favourites you'd assume but Phillies will definitely make an offer
I wondered with Ohtani if there would be a handshake agreement to negotiate a long term deal after his first season (maybe with the caveat that the season has to go well). The Angels never signed Ohtani long term, but what is there to stop a deal for any player after their first year? Tatis got 14 years and $340 million after his 2nd year. Wander Franco got 11/182 after his first year which was a half season. That contract may end up a disaster with his legal troubles, but the main point is that it was offered and he signed it.
The international bonus really does not matter here. Whether it is $3 million or $7 million I imagine a player like Sasaki will get many times that money in endorsements. The Phillies should roll out the red carper here because this is the only player out there that can be acquired at the All Star level that will not blow up the current payroll. And will cost no prospects.
Still a hard race for the Phillies to win but obviously their recent moves (courting Yamamoto, hiring Chung and more Asian scouts) are an attempt to catch up.
I wonder how much endorsement value the team choice has for the player (i.e. Dodgers, Yankees, even Mariners have bigger fan bases and brand equity).
Just like Juan Soto prefers to stay on the east coast, Sasaki probably prefers to play on the west coast. Either would be nice acquisitions but I just don't think they are very realistic.
I'd pitch Sasaki that the Phillies are the best organization today for starting pitchers. We believe in them. We develop and nurture them. We trust them to go deep in games if they earn it. Not every organization does that. Wheeler and Nola and Sanchez and Suarez and Sasaki could be a historic, dominant staff. The money and endorsements will come with success.
Not sure the pitch would work, but it could be a good one. LA and NY will always have more money, but we can get close.
I don't entirely understand how a team can "win" the bidding in terms of $. Backdoor future promises? Maxing out your int'l on just him? Or is it really all about selling a culture and a vision?
Obviously it is in Japan but I am sure a guy in a Dodgers uniform is worth more to Coca-Cola Japan or Mizuno than a guy in a Milwaukee uniform. Both currently and due to the history
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said this week that he visited Japan in September to watch Sasaki. Phillies assistant general manager Jorge Velandia makes multiple trips to Japan per year. But it’s unclear if other members of the team’s front office attended a Sasaki start.
But the Phillies have attempted to broaden their presence in the Far East. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski charged Velandia with improving the organization’s reach. The Phillies hired Tora Otsuka, son of former major league pitcher Akinori Otsuka, as a second full-time scout based in Japan, joining veteran scout Koji Takahashi.
I used to think this too, but it's not really the case. A 7pm Dodgers game is at noon Tokyo time. A 7pm Phillies game is at 9am. I guess the whole country was known to take lunch breaks to watch Nomo or Ichirio.
A 1pm game in LA would be at 6am rather than 3am like a NY game but still hardly ideal, or atttractive to TV.
Flight times for friends/family (or yourself) would be more common consideration. Also true for spring training/off-season work.
Well, at least we appear to be in the game:
The Philadelphia Phillies, according to a league source, remain another team worth watching in the sweepstakes. Last winter, team president Dave Dombrowski aggressively pursued Yamamoto in free agency, a signal of the franchise’s concerted efforts to build up a presence in the Pacific Rim.
I thought the Yamamoto offer was more of a signal to the rest of the league. We are still unlikely to be considered here, but the main thing is that this is not all about money. It is about comfort and fit and market (and maybe handshake promises for money in the future).
It's also marketing to the Japanese player market.
We may not be able to land the first tier guys, but we'll become more attractive to the second tier guys who probably would have no idea who the Phillies are until we started getting into these bidding contests.
Ha, fair. They actually did meet with him in California, as did the Yankees and Red Sox. But he never came to Philly, or granted them a second meeting (which both the Mets and Yankees got). There was also a Facetime with Harper.
But that's still progress. It could well take five or even 10 years before these efforts pay off. Maybe they should also consider signing a Japanese or South Korean MLB veteran if there's a fit. Visibility means something and so would actually having an established track record of support/infrastructure (be that a translator or food).