Roki Sasaki sweepstakes nearing the end, with Dodgers and Blue Jays remaining

As we inch closer to the Roki Sasaki‘s posting window closing on Thursday, there have been a couple bits of news on that front.

Hearing from multiple sources that the Padres are out in Roki Sasaki.

They will begin their international signings of Jhoan De La Cruz and Carlos Alvarez in the next few hours.

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) January 17, 2025

And …

Blue Jays have acquired international cap space plus Myles Straw and cash in a trade with Cleveland for a PTBNL or cash.

To be clear, this does not mean that Roki Sasaki has made up his mind or given the Blue Jays any indication as to his choice.

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 17, 2025

Toronto is receiving $2 million of international bonus money in the deal.

So, just like last winter with Shohei Ohtani, the Sasaki sweepstakes is coming down to the Dodgers and Blue Jays.

Honestly, it still seems like a bit of a longshot for the Jays, despite having around $3 million more to offer Sasaki as a signing bonus. On that front, the Dodgers have been working to try to find some more international bonus money via trade. The rumor of Josue De Paula being dealt for $3 million had some legs to it, but it still didn’t make a lot of sense on the surface — especially after seeing the Guardians give all that above (the cash to cover Myles Straw’s contract is, reportedly, $3.75 million) for a player to be named later or cash. I also don’t see someone like Joendry Vargas being the guy they move for bonus money.

The Dodgers could indeed trade players — 40-man roster or otherwise — to acquire more bonus money, and they probably will. It may not all be allocated to Sasaki, but having a little more to offer couldn’t hurt. They can acquire up to 60% of their $5,146,200 allotment, which works out to be $3,087,720.

If it comes down to Sasaki or someone like Emil Morales or Eduardo Quintero, I’m going with Sasaki all day. The system is setup in such a way that things like this are almost necessary. It’s unfortunate, but the Dodgers are doing what they can to land the Japanese phenom.

We’ll see if anything else breaks today. The Blue Jays acquiring that bonus money doesn’t hurt their chances any. And if Sasaki opts for the Dodgers, they can spend that money on other international amateur free agents or even trade it. If the Dodgers don’t end up with Sasaki, it’ll be disappointing, but definitely not the end of the world.