While less than a week ago the Blue Jays may have seemed like a longshot to land Japanese ace Roki Sasaki, the team has suddenly emerged as a finalist for his services. Jeff Passan's Monday report that the Jays, Dodgers, and Padres are all still in the running is of course a great sign, but it goes even deeper than that. Per The Athletic, Sasaki has only visited Toronto and San Diego for second in-person meetings, and not the Dodgers. Of course, he still has until January 23 to sign, so there's still time to visit Los Angeles again, but this development becomes particularly relevant when considering the financial aspects of the sweepstakes.
It's been explained in depth numerous times over the course of this offseason, but unlike Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who signed a massive $300-million contract with the Dodgers last offseason, Sasaki is only eligible to sign a minor-league contract plus a bonus because he's under 25 years old. This means that rather than this process being a bidding war, something that the Jays have lost numerous times as of late, it's all about pitching the destination and organization. For the Blue Jays, all they can do is present why the city, team, infrastructure, coaching staff, and other aspects should be appealing. The fact that Toronto has been able to bring Sasaki in for another visit is a sign that their pitch, at least for now, is working.
Blue Jays' Roki Sasaki pitch clearly working given latest rumors
Of course, it's also important to acknowledge that while the Jays are a finalist, they're going up against two heavy hitters. The Dodgers are obviously just won the World Series, but also already have Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in their rotation, both of whom Sasaki has represented Japan with in international play. The Padres may not have won it all last year, but they have one of the best rosters in baseball and gave the Dodgers a run for their money in last year's NLDS. It probably doesn't hurt that they have arguably the greatest Japanese pitcher of all time, Yu Darvish, on their pitching staff.
Should the Blue Jays somehow land Sasaki, it would be a monumental achievement. Over four seasons in NPB, he's 2.10 ERA across 394.2 innings pitched, and could turn a potentially decent Jays rotation into one of the best in baseball. This recent reporting certainly isn't a guarantee that he'll land in Toronto, but knowing about all the teams they've outlasted certainly provides hope.