The Minnesota Twins don’t have the financial muscle to sign a high-end starting pitcher this year. That point has been pounded home ad nauseam. The likes of superstar free agent Corbin Burnes, or even secondary veteran stars like Justin Verlander or Max Scherzer, will sign for significantly more than the Twins can stomach with their self-imposed spending limitations.
But there’s one arm that remains on the market that could be an exception – Roki Sasaki. The sensation out of Japan, whose team has posted him, will cross over to Major League Baseball at the ripe age of 23. He has a career 2.02 ERA across four seasons, with a blistering fastball that can touch triple digits and a slew of secondary options that could make him the game’s next big phenom.
Because he’s crossing over at such a young age, he’s subject to this posting system rather than being an outright free agent. Therefore, he’s likely foregoing an absolute fortune. MLB teams can only use their international signing money, giving them a de facto spending cap. Every team has somewhere between $5.1 million and $7.5 million to spend on their entire international class for that period.
That could work in Minnesota’s favor.
It puts them on a more even playing field with the handful of superteams across the league. You know, the ones who can afford to buy a small country thanks to their enormous television deals. Undoubtedly, the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, and New York Yankees would have a significant advantage under normal free agency. Go ahead and ask Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani, and Max Fried.
But since Sasaki is coming over as an amateur, he’ll only require a minor league deal with a signing bonus from the international signing bonus money. The phenom has stated that he doesn’t have a significant preference over location for his next team. But he is focused on comfortability for himself and his family and demonstrated success in the player development for the organization’s young hurlers.
The first request for comfortability might be a mixed bag for the Twins. On the one hand, they are well-known for having extensive resources available for players’ families, such as childcare and a tight-knit group of players’ wives and families. On the other hand, if we’re talking comfortable weather in a new home, the Minnesota cold in the first couple months of the regular season, and possibly into October, could be a tough sell.
But the aspect of finding a team that has proven success with pitching development could put the Twins back in the race. They have had success developing young arms that didn’t have dazzling prospect pedigrees like Bailey Ober and Zebby Matthews, plus a handful more in the upper levels of the minor leagues. They’ve also been able to make tweaks to established MLB players’ arsenals to push them to the next level (Pablo López‘s addition of the sweeper in 2023, Joe Ryan’s splitter, etc.).
Sasaki and his representation are doing their due diligence when researching ownership groups for his potential landing spots. Had the Pohlad family not announced that they would explore a sale of the team, it could pose a major obstacle.
But maybe they’re aware of the reported interest from the Ishbia brothers, who are well-known as owners that would invest significantly in on-field product and fan experience. If that’s the case, the Twins suddenly have more appeal, as they could more reasonably extend Sasaki eventually, or at least have a better chance of drawing in additional talent to build around him.
Of course, plenty of barriers exist to the 23-year-old signing with the Twins. It’s the cold weather and relative isolation of living in Minnesota. It could also be the market size, which Sasaki says he doesn’t care about, but who knows? Or that the Twins may not be willing to spend $7 million on the signing bonus.
But if the Twins want to make one significant move that would drastically improve their staff while still steering closer to their spending goal, Sasaki might be the best move they can make. It would be the ultimate flex for a club lacking financial muscle if they pull it off.
