Red Sox Rumors: Craig Breslow Flew To Japan To Scout Roki Sasaki

While the Boston Red Sox were wrapping up their 81-81 finish to 2024, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow got a head start to the organization’s pivotal offseason by taking a business trip to Japan.

Breslow, accompanied by other Red Sox representatives, flew out to Japan to watch 23-year-old right-handed pitcher Roki Sasaki, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. It was reported Saturday that Sasaki would become available for an offseason bidding war amongst teams across the league hoping to land the Japanese star. Boston, among those in need of pitching improvement, of course, emerged as a speculated suitor to sign Sasaki.

Breslow, who is in his second year in Boston’s front office, has been very vocal about setting the bar this offseason. The Red Sox swallowed yet another tough pill when closing the door on 2024 by suffering their third straight playoff miss, the fifth in the past seven seasons. Midseason additions, including a few trade deadline acquisitions, didn’t go as planned, the offense hit an untimely cold skis and the defense finished with an American League-leading 115 errors when it was all said and done.

Sasaki, nicknamed “The Monster of the Reiwa Era,” could be a component of Breslow’s offseason blueprint targeted long before MLB teams were officially given the green light to begin presenting contract offers.

“I’ve talked for a while about how the recipe for success here has been homegrown talent supplemented via free agency, and I don’t see that changing,” Breslow explained, per Alex Speier of The Boston.

Sasaki made 18 appearances last season, going 10-5 with a 2.76 ERA in 111 innings pitched in Nippon Professional Baseball. His fastball has been caught reaching the triple digits at times and the rest of Sasaki’s pitching arsenal features a frontline split-fingered fastball and a slider. Five years ago, Sasaki threw a 12-inning, 21-strikeout, 194-pitch complete game during Japan’s national high school baseball tournament.

The Red Sox have an obvious tie with designated hitter Masataka Yoshida, a fellow Japanese native who signed a five-year, $90 million deal with Boston in 2022, following a seven-year career in NBP. Yoshida played for the Orix Buffaloes before pursuing an MLB career and finding a home at Fenway Park.

Adding Sasaki to the pitching staff would be an encouraging step forward. Boston is set to welcome back Lucas Gilito, last offseason’s premier free agency signing, after the right-hander underwent season-ending surgery in spring training. Could (potentially) discovering baseball’s next great international phenom be what it’ll take to flip the script for the Red Sox? Perhaps.

Boston will still need to compete with others across the league to land Sasaki.