Cubs Meeting With Japanese Ace Roki Sasaki

[Stratos]

On 12/22/2024 at 6:29 PM, thawv said:

His agent said that he thought Roki would consider a smaller market, but did not confirm it with him.

I hate that all the meetings are in LA.  It's a huge advantage for the Dodgers, if it's a legit interview with the other teams, and not just a dog and pony show.  I think if he picks the Dodgers, this whole thing was just for show.

I'm hoping that if he doesn't want to play with his idol in SD, Yu points him in our direction like he did with Suzuki!!

If I were Sasaki i'd mostly care about the org's pitching infrastructure and how well the org is run in general since personnel can change, plus the opportunity to pitch.  If he struggles at some point or gets hurt he'd face more challenge on the Dodgers than other teams to keep guaranteed playing time in the rotation.  But he'd also have Ohtani and Yamamoto to talk pitching with, as a bonus.  On the Cubs he'd have Imanaga.

[Stratos]

20 hours ago, BigbadB said:

It would be like rounding up 30 kids for a game of kickball, and the rules are one team gets to pick the first 15 players to be on their team and the other team gets what's leftover, including the kid in the corner picking his nose.

The rules allow for the Dodgers to stockpile as many great players as they can, so it's not against the rules. But, it will have lasting effect on all the other team's fans that lose interest in the sport. But, it will be one step closer to changing the rules so that this cannot continue happening. Not even sure how they go about changing it since the Dodgers are deferring huge piles of money so many years out, so there might have to be grandfathered protections in place, which will also suck for a lot of other teams. That, or you punish the Dodgers for what they've done, and can just point and laugh that they thought what they were doing would not have repercussions.

It's bad for fans of the other 29 teams, but I wonder if its bad for baseball overall to have a super-team?  They aren't the Bulls, but the Bulls were good for the NBA.  I wonder if the Torre-era Yanks were good for the MLB?  I assume so.

I don't think you can punish the Dodgers for past behaviour that didn't break rules.  I don't think the deferred money on Ohtani affects the luxury tax, right?  They're already paying 103m least year in luxury taxes, you gotta wonder how they can slow down the Dodgers domination?

[BigbadB]

3 hours ago, Stratos said:

It's bad for fans of the other 29 teams, but I wonder if its bad for baseball overall to have a super-team?  They aren't the Bulls, but the Bulls were good for the NBA.  I wonder if the Torre-era Yanks were good for the MLB?  I assume so.

I don't think you can punish the Dodgers for past behaviour that didn't break rules.  I don't think the deferred money on Ohtani affects the luxury tax, right?  They're already paying 103m least year in luxury taxes, you gotta wonder how they can slow down the Dodgers domination?

The Torre era Yankees were mostly home grown players, if I recall correctly. I think that makes it different than what the Dodgers are currently doing. And to be fair, the Dodgers were doing the Torre era thing to, graduating tons of home grown talent to the big league roster. Now there's no room for home grown talent, because they blocked them all with superstars from other teams/countries.

[Rcal10]

4 hours ago, Stratos said:

It's bad for fans of the other 29 teams, but I wonder if its bad for baseball overall to have a super-team?  They aren't the Bulls, but the Bulls were good for the NBA.  I wonder if the Torre-era Yanks were good for the MLB?  I assume so.

I don't think you can punish the Dodgers for past behaviour that didn't break rules.  I don't think the deferred money on Ohtani affects the luxury tax, right?  They're already paying 103m least year in luxury taxes, you gotta wonder how they can slow down the Dodgers domination?

I think he got 10 years for $700M and for luxury tax purposes, because of the deferred money they are only getting $42M a year charged towards the tax. So, yes, it does affect it to defer money. 

[CubinNY]

Hate the game, not the player. I think there is almost half a billion dollars paid in luxury tax money that is going to the smaller market clubs. So yes, they can spend too. It’s naked greed and bad management that keeps teams from winning. Cubs most definitely included. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

7 hours ago, TomtheBombadil said:

The Dodgers met with Sasaki yesterday. Adam Jude mentioned the Cubs, Yankees, Mets, and Rangers had met him already, and the Giants are in there too 

Met with the White Sox also

[ILMindState]

 

[ToolDRT]

 

[ToolDRT]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6056160/2025/01/13/roki-sasaki-toronto-blue-jays-meeting/

[Bertz]

32 minutes ago, ToolDRT said:

 

This is great, I'm glad Sasaki is formally letting people out before Wednesdays IFA deadline instead of stringing them along.  If the Cubs don't get him I hope we find out today as well.

[Jason Ross]

Nightengale says LAD and SD are favorites. Doesn't rule out Toronto or Texas. Doesn't mention Cubs. 

In a weird way, I like it that way more. Either tell me we're out, or don't even mention the Cubs as a leader - that's kind of how Imanaga and Suzuki went down and I'd feel decent about it going that way here, too.

[KCCub]

Yankees out -

 

[Jason Ross]

Sounds like we'll probably know soon where the Cubs sit, then.

[KCCub]

Mets out -

 

 

[Bertz]

Wow, these are far more extensive cuts than I expected this early.  

[Rcal10]

3 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Wow, these are far more extensive cuts than I expected this early.  

He can choose now. He just can’t sign until the 15rh. Why do you consider this early. He should know by now, IMO. Been weeks since he met with teams. I agree he has every right to wait. But he doesn’t have to. 

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, Rcal10 said:

He can choose now. He just can’t sign until the 15rh. Why do you consider this early. He should know by now, IMO. Been weeks since he met with teams. I agree he has every right to wait. But he doesn’t have to. 

He reportedly has been visiting cities in the last week. Which cities are unknown. So there seems to be some information he's only recently gotten.

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, 1908_Cubs said:

He reportedly has been visiting cities in the last week. Which cities are unknown. So there seems to be some information he's only recently gotten.

That is true. 

[CubinNY]

My money is on San Diego. He gets to be with Yu and compete against LA. Plus San Diego is about the most lovely place in the entire USA. 

[Jason Ross]

2 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

My money is on San Diego. He gets to be with Yu and compete against LA. Plus San Diego is about the most lovely place in the entire USA. 

Yeah, I've been leaning SD for a bit here. Feels like the best of all worlds - you get a west coast city, you play with your guy Darvish and the media attention in San Diego just isn't what it is elsewhere. 

[KCCub]

Rangers out -

 

 

[Jason Ross]

3 minutes ago, KCCub said:

Rangers out -

 

 

As is Arizona. They did not get a meeting. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

Please continue to call every team, one by one, informing them they are out.  Even the ones who were never in the conversation to begin with.  This should be how every free agent negotiation is handled.

Player's agent: "Hello Jed, I am calling to let you know you are out of the running for the services of Player X."
Jed: "But, we were never even interested in..."
Player's agent: "I said, you are OUT.  Goodbye."

[KCCub]

If one of Dodgers/Padres are told they are out before we hear any Cubs news, then I'll start to get my hopes up. Until then, imo, it's one of those two teams. 

[SOFNR]

2 minutes ago, KCCub said:

If one of Dodgers/Padres are told they are out before we hear any Cubs news, then I'll start to get my hopes up. Until then, imo, it's one of those two teams. 

Same. As tight lipped as the FO is we may not even hear about an elimination.