Wolfe: Market size ‘not a factor’ in Sasaki’s decision

Joel Wolfe of Wasserman, the NPB star’s agent Roki Sasakitells SNY’s Andy Martino that “market size is not a factor anyway” in the player’s decision. At the winter meetings, the agent said Sasaki might prefer to go to a smaller market after clashing with the media in Japan. However, Wolfe stressed at the time that that was his opinion and that he and Sasaki had yet to discuss the matter in depth. The pitcher doesn’t seem to care about this.

Sasaki has conducted initial meetings with at least seven teams, most of which are big-market franchises. Previous reports indicated he met with the Dodgers, Rangers, Yankees, Mets and Cubs. The Giants are also believed to have had a meeting. Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports today that the Padres were also granted a meeting during Sasaki’s trip to the United States earlier this month.

Wolfe met with several reporters this evening (including Tim Healey of Newsday and Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register) to provide details on the trial. He indicated that all in-person meetings occurred at Wasserman’s offices in Los Angeles. Wolfe declined to specify how many teams were involved. He said 20 clubs had submitted initial presentations via PowerPoint, video or books to express interest.

It seems that each meeting followed specific protocols. According to Wolfe, Sasaki specifically requested that teams not bring in players. He also limited each conversation to the same amount of time (less than two hours), seemingly to keep each team on equal footing. As expected, Sasaki then returned to Japan for the holidays.

It is unclear whether any teams beyond the seven reported met with Sasaki. Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said last week that Detroit made an initial proposal, though they had not heard back Friday on whether they would have a meeting. Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said this morning that Boston was in a similar position (broadcast by Alex Speier of the Boston Globe).

Wolfe hasn’t closed the door on giving another team or two an initial meeting, though the agent indicated they would begin narrowing down the field soon (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). Sasaki hasn’t visited any team’s cities — other than his time in Los Angeles because Wasserman is based there — but may do so after the new year.

The signing period for international amateur free agents opens on January 15th. This is the date Sasaki will be able to sign for the first time. However, its 45-day publishing window lasts until January 23. Wolfe indicated that Sasaki may not have made a decision by the opening of the signing window and could drag things out until the posting deadline. While the agent did not highlight this as the reason, this would give MLB teams a little over a week to trade international signing bonus assignments that would increase what they are able to offer Sasaki. Teams can acquire up to 60% of the initial value of their respective bonus pools. Teams have different initial pool allocations, all between $5.1462 million and $7.5555 million.