Rōki Sasaki Told Giants He Won't Sign Free-Agent Contract with Team, SF GM Says

Baseball fans at least know one team Japanese star Rōki Sasaki won't be signing with this offseason.

San Francisco Giants general manager Zack Minasian told reporters Monday that Sasaki's representatives informed the franchise it is out of the running. The Giants were among the teams with whom the starting pitcher had met ahead of his move to MLB.

The race to sign Sasaki is far more wide open than a traditional free agency sweepstakes because MLB rules cap his first contract at a fraction of what he'd get on the open market. His initial earnings will range between $5.1 million and $7.6 million because that's what teams have to spend with their international bonus pool money.

The Athletic's Will Sammon, Dennis Lin and Andy McCullough reported how interested suitors are letting some of their international targets sign elsewhere or seeing if players will wait a year to sign in order to preserve as much flexibility as they can with Sasaki in mind.

Given their luck—or lack thereof—when pursuing star free agents in recent years, the Giants probably weren't considered one of the top favorites to get Sasaki once this process got underway.

San Francisco, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, has the lowest pool amount available and doesn't project as a serious contender heading into the 2025 season. The Giants finished 80-82 last year and the arrivals of shortstop Willy Adames and starting pitcher Justin Verlander don't make them significantly better on paper.

Landing Sasaki would've been a huge coup for Minasian and president of baseball operations Buster Posey in their first offseason running the front office. But they shouldn't come in for much criticism because fans will recognize San Francisco wasn't working with the strongest hand.