Intriguing Potential Red Sox Target To Enter MLB Free Agency

The Boston Red Sox are hunting for an ace, and a fascinating pitching talent could help solve their problems.

On Saturday, the Chiba Lotte Marines announced they will begin the process of posting Roki Sasaki, paving the way for the 23-year-old to join MLB in 2025.

“I am very grateful to the team for officially allowing me to post,” Sasaki said in a statement posted by the Marines on X. “There were many things that did not go well during my five years with the Marines, but I was able to get to this point by concentrating only on baseball, with the support of my teammates, staff, front office, and fans. I will do my best to work my way up from my minor contract to become the best player in the world, so that I will have no regrets in my one and only baseball career and live up to the expectations of everyone who has supported me.”

Sasaki is considered one of the most talented pitchers in the world. He arguably threw the greatest game in baseball history at 19 years old when he tossed a perfect game — the first in Nippon Professional Baseball in nearly three decades — and struck out 19 batters, including 13 in a row at one point. The 19 punch-outs tied a league record, as Sasaki threw 105 pitches.

Boston reportedly was among multiple teams that scouted Sasaki in Japan to determine if his talent could translate to MLB. Sasaki, nicknamed “The Monster of the Reiwa Era,” is considered an international amateur free agent and can sign only a minor league contract, which drastically limits how much teams can pay him.

The right-hander asked to be posted last year but was denied by the Marines. Had he waited, he could have signed a massive deal like Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Instead, he’ll follow a similar path to Shohei Ohtani, who signed with the Los Angeles Angels for $2.3 million when he arrived in MLB.

The timing of Sasaki’s posting hasn’t been set, but there will be a 45-day window for major league teams to sign the 6-foot-2, 187-pound talent. Money won’t be an issue, so it will be up to teams to draw up the best elevator pitch to convince Sasaki to sign with them.