As of Thursday, reports indicated three teams remained in the race to sign Japanese pitching phenomenon Roki Sasaki: the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays. But according to MLB.com baseball insider Marc Feinsand, the race was really between the two California teams, with the Canadian franchise considered a long shot at best.
But after series of shocking developments on Friday, the Padres now appear to be eliminated from consideration by Sasaki — and the Blue Jays look like they are right in the thick of it.
The Padres on Friday morning announced they had spent millions in cash from their international bonus pool to sign two top prospects from the Dominican Republic, Jhoan De La Cruz, a shortstop, and Carlos Alvarez, who is a lefty pitcher. According to media reports, the two signings may have drained between $2 million and $3.5 million from the Padres’ international bonus poll coffers.
Presumably, if the Padres still believed they had a shot at signing Sasaki, they would not be taking money out of their bonus pool.
That is exactly what the Blue Jays did on Friday morning. The club announced a trade, picking up 2022 Gold Glove outfielder Myles Straw from the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for cash or a player to be named later,
But Straw, 30, who played in just seven games for Cleveland last season, was not the most important part of the deal. The Blue Jays also received what reporter Ben Nicholson-Smith of the Canadian TV network SportsNet estimated to be $2 million in international bonus pool money — dollars that appear to strengthen the Blue Jays’ position in the competition for Sasaki.
With the Padres apparently out, the Blue Jays’ last remaining competitor is reportedly the World Series champion Dodgers. With Friday’s deal, the Blue Jays’ estimated bonus pool would stand at approximately $8.3 million, well ahead of the Dodgers’ current total of $5.1 million.
Both teams are allowed to keep on adding to their respective pools through trades. However, under the complex set of MLB collective bargaining agreement rules governing the international signing process, the Blue Jays’ maximum pool cash total is $10,018, 560. The Dodgers may accrue no more than $8,233,920 to spend on Sasaki, or any other international amateur signings.
Under MLB rules, Sasaki, 23, is classified as an “international amateur” because he is under 25 years old, though he has already played four professional seasons in Japan.
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