Ex-Yankees coach claims "Juan Soto is on the back burner," with Roki Sasaki leading free agency market right now
Just a few weeks into the offseason, highly sought-after free agent Juan Soto may not be the top prize, according to former Yankees hitting coach Sean Casey. Last year, two Japanese stars, Shohei Ohtani and rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto, captivated most of the offseason and it seems the trend of Japanese superstars dominating MLB offseasons will continue ahead of the 2025 season.
On Saturday, Roki Sasaki, a 23-year-old right-handed pitcher, started to gain buzz after he was posted by NPB's Chiba Lotte Marines for MLB. Successful stints from Kodai Senga, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga have led teams to pick Japanese pitchers over lengthy contracts and Sasaki could be the next in line.
While discussing who will be dominating the free agency market along with Rich Ciancimino on "The Mayor's Office," Casey took a liking to Roki Sasaki's free agency prospects.
"I think Soto is going to be on the back burner for right now," Casey said (4:33). "I mean, that’s not getting done till, at the earliest, the end of the winter meetings—the earliest. I really believe that the last day of the winter meetings, right? That’s when it might get done, but it could be even after that. So who knows with that?
"But this Roki Sasaki—yeah, I mean, dude, this guy is an absolute stud. They’re about to post him. What is he? He’s 23 years old—23 years old. And he’s posted a 2.02 ERA in 414 innings pitched with 524 punchouts. This guy’s a stud."
Ex-Yankees coach Sean Casey believes Roki Sasaki can be a "game-changing" pitcher
There's a thing about Japanese pitchers who have gained a lot of traction since the country won the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga are recent examples of it and Roki Sasaki has received good buzz ahead of his free agency.
Talking about his path to MLB, Sean Casey highlighted how his free agency will be different than that of Yamamoto.
"And the one thing that’s different between him and Yamamoto is that you have to have six years of service time or less to get posted. Like, go back to when Ohtani came here. He signed for $2.3 million with the Angels and then went through the regular big league process... That’s the same process that Sasaki’s coming in on," Casey said.
Casey went on to praise Sasaki's potential to be a real difference-maker in MLB.
"... So this guy looks like a game-changing pitcher, dude. He’s a big guy, he’s got great stuff, upper-90s heater, wipeout slider, probably has a good split. So I’m kind of looking at that, thinking this guy could actually be a game-changing arm, Chinch."
Juan Soto, on the other hand, would look to settle for a contract potentially more valued than Shohei Ohani's 10-year, $700 million contract last offseason. His career year should help him get that.