Blue Jays fall short yet again as Roki Sasaki announces devastating decision

Eric Cole

World Baseball Classic Semifinals: Mexico v Japan / Eric Espada/GettyImages

For the Toronto Blue Jays, the word that they remained in the running for Roki Sasaki was a welcome change of pace this offseason. Always the bridesmaids but never the bride, the Blue Jays had missed out on several top free agents this offseason and Sasaki gave them a chance to save their offseason and prove that Toronto can still attract top talent.

Of course, it was never going to be easy. The other finalists for Sasaki's services, the Dodgers and Padres, were heavy favorites to land the talented Japanese pitcher all offseason long, and little changed in the lead up to the opening of free agency. Getting a meeting with Sasaki was great, but all it signaled was a strong third place finish.

Well, decision time has finally arrived. All three clubs basically put their international free agent plans on hold waiting for Sasaki to make his decision. Unfortunately, it appears as though the Blue Jays have once again failed to attract a key target and Sasaki will be taking his talents to the west coast (though, yes, the Jays outlasted the Padres).

Roki Sasaki's signing decision will define the Blue Jays' fortunes going forward

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With Sasaki's decision out of the way, the Blue Jays can turn to the rest of the offseason. They still need to add an impact bat, with Alex Bregman and Anthony Santander being the most popular options at the moment. Right now, it is unclear as to whether or not Sasaki's choice here is going to move the needle either way as to how the Blue Jays proceed with the rest of their offseason ambitions.

If we are being honest here, the Blue Jays were always long shots to land Sasaki. Both LA and San Diego have built-in geographic advantages when it ccomes to lucrative marketing opportunities over in Japan. From day one, they were the prohibitive favorites to sign the Japanese hurler, even with Toronto doing a full court press to snatch him away.

The Blue Jays have a lot of work to do on the free agent market in a short period of time and there are a lot of moving pieces at the moment. They remain fringe players for Bregman, and both Santander and Pete Alonso are hanging out on the free agent market. Alonso is looking very possible as an option right now, with the word that the Mets are moving on from him.

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Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.