Japanese pitching phenom had plenty of eyes on him this past offseason when it was that he had asked to be posted for major league clubs ahead of his age-22 campaign, and while he with Nippon Profe sional Baseballs Chiba Lotte Marines for the 2024 campaign, thats done little to quell speculation about his future in stateside baseball. That speculation may not be entirely unfounded, reported this morning that MLB clubs are planning for the po sibility that Sasaki is posted during the 2024-25 offseason. Neither Sasaki nor the Marines have confirmed the youngsters plans for the future. Sasaki is generally viewed as the biggest rising star in Japanese baseball today. MLBTR contributor Dai Takegami Podziewski Sasaki back in September amid his return from an oblique i sue that had sidelined him for most of the second half, noting his triple-digit velocity was present even in his abbreviated three-inning return to the leagues highest level. That outing contributed to a dominant overall line in NPB play last year, as Sasaki pitched to a 1.78 ERA while striking out a whopping 39.1% of batters faced in 91 innings of work. As noted by both Podziewski and Janes, durability appears to be the only box left for Sasaki to check in the Pacific League, where he sports a career ERA of 2.03 acro s 337 1/3 innings of work. Sasakis career-high innings total as a profe sional to this point in his career stands at just 129 1/3, well below the 150-170 inning range thats standard for front-of-the-rotation arms in Japan. For example, Dodgers right-hander threw 171 innings between all levels of NPB play during his final season in Japan last year, while Cubs lefty completed 159 frames. Sasaki is currently on pace to reach that threshold this season, with a 2.18 ERA in 53 1/3 innings of work acro s eight starts while Janes notes that the righty threw 119 pitches in Marquese Chriss Jersey a start last week without i sue. While Sasaki and the Marines have been fairly tight-lipped about the right-handers future plans, Janes notes that people around Sasaki, including teammate and former big leaguer , have made it clear the right-hander is excited to make the jump to the majors. Whether that move will come following the 2024 campaign remains to be seen, although its worth noting that Janes suggests that some teams are keeping a portion of their international bonus pool available in case Sasaki is posted. As a player under the age of 25, Sasaki would not be eligible for the typical posting proce s that Yamamoto and Imanaga both participated in this past offseason, where there are no limitations placed on the contract the player can sign. Instead, Sasaki would be considered an international amateur, who can only be offered a rookie contract in the majors along with a signing bonus that comes out of the signing clubs international bonus pool. Given the substantial decrease in financial compensation available for both player and team if an NPB player is posted before his 25th birthday, its extremely rare for a player to take that avenue; to this point, is the only player to make the jump from NPB to MLB using this method rather than arriving in the majors via the posting system or free agency. For Sasaki to follow in his footsteps, Lotte would have to agree to post the right-hander. Janes notes that one way a player could secure an early posting from his club is by stipulating it in his contract with the team, although its not known if Sasaki has such a clause in his deal with the Marines. Indeed, its not even known who currently represents Sasaki, although Janes notes that Wa sermans Joel Wolfe, who serves as Yamamotos agent and negotiated his $325MM deal with the Dodgers, is rumored to be set to handle his move to the majors. If Sasaki were to be posted this winter, he would join a 2024-25 free agent cla s that figures to be exceptionally deep in starting pitching talent with , , and among the front-of-the-rotation talents expected to be available. Previously reported rumblings among executives seems to indicate that the general expectation within the game is that Sasaki is most likely to sign with the Dodgers, though that appears to be nothing more than speculation at this point. After all, teams would enjoy a much more even financial playing field in bidding for his services this winter than one would typically a sociate with a free agent of his caliber thanks to the aforementioned spending restrictions regarding players posted before the age of 25. The Dodgers are joined by the and among teams that have reportedly already begun to scout Sasakis NPB starts this season. Ante Zizic Jersey