The saga of Roki Sasaki ended last Friday with the choice of the Los Angeles Dodgers as the team in which he will make his Major League Baseball debut, leaving the other two finalists, the San Diego Padres and the Toronto Blue Jays, in the dust.
The Blue Jays have the financial power to attract stars, but they have struggled to convince players to join their project. What’s worse, next season they are likely to lose first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was conspicuous by his absence from the meeting with Sasaki.
After dismissing several of its suitors, Sasaki and his agency began a mini-tour to meet with the three finalists. It was leaked that the Dodgers took their best stars, led by Japanese Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but also Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
According to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, the Blue Jays did not use their biggest star to try to convince Sasaki that they were the best option and took three other players to the meeting in Toronto.
“Quietly, Bo Bichette, Daulton Varsho and Chad Green traveled to Toronto to woo Sasaki with the Blue Jays last week,” Nicholson-Smith said.
Sasaki joins Blue Jays’ list of disappointments
During his trip to Toronto, Sasaki worked out at the Rogers Centre to stay on his regular pitching schedule and it gave him an idea of what a routine at the ballpark might have been like, but in the end the Blue Jays were ruled out and fell short once again, after being contenders last year for Shohei Ohtani, and this offseason they were in the running for Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and closed their list of disappointments with Roki Sasaki.
The last card they have left to play is to convince Pete Alonso, who has stalled negotiations with the New York Mets, as well as a possible major offer for Canadian-Dominican Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to stay with the organization, before making the painful decision to accept a trade.
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