Report: Rōki Sasaki, Blue Jays Meet amid Dodgers, Padres, Mets, Cubs, Rangers Rumors

The Toronto Blue Jays met with Japanese pitcher Rōki Sasaki last week, according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Andy McCullough.

Rosenthal and McCullough listed off the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets and Chicago Cubs as the other teams confirmed to be in the hunt for the international free agent.

Blue Jays fans have been down this road before, so they're unlikely to get too ahead of themselves. The Athletic report described the franchise as "a silver medalist for one free agent after another the past two offseasons," with Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto the most notable targets who signed elsewhere.

Toronto is also in a state of flux organizationally.

The Blue Jays finished last in the American League East at 74-88 and haven't upgraded their roster too much.

Second baseman Andrés Giménez is their biggest addition so far. While an elite defender, the 26-year-old is a career .261 hitter with a .393 slugging percentage. He's unlikely to raise Toronto's ceiling too much.

Meanwhile, the Jays' best player is only a year out from free agency. They avoided arbitration with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and his $28.5 million salary for 2025 gives some idea of how much he could earn on his next contract.

Should the four-time All-Star leave Toronto, the team's short-term outlook is pretty bleak, and Sasaki is well aware of this fact.

The Blue Jays can't even give the right-hander the most bonus money, negating what was theoretically an advantage when they pursued Ohtani and Soto and could've paid them whatever they wanted.

Toronto is limited to $6.3 million in bonus money for international free agents, which is more than the Dodgers have ($5.1 million) but on par with San Diego, Chicago and Texas and less than the flexibility the Mariners possess ($7.6 million).

Sasaki and his representatives wouldn't have gotten this far with the Blue Jays if he wasn't open to signing with them. But it's hard to see what would make them stand out from the pack.