Craig Breslow confirms Red Sox haven’t met with Roki Sasaki

Red Sox

Red Sox fans hoping for a Roki Sasaki Boston jersey under the Christmas tree will likely be dissatisfied.

Although the 23-year-old Japanese top pitcher has already began meeting with MLB teams since being dispatched by his NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, Craig Breslow earlier this month confirmed Alex Speier that Boston has yet to take a seat down with Sasaki and his camp.

“At the moment we are not doing that [have a meeting scheduled]. But I don’t know if that’s final,” Breslow told Speier. “We are obviously committed and would welcome the opportunity to participate in the process and hope we will have the chance to do so.”

Although West Coast MLB teams just like the Dodgers and Padres are considered favorites to sign Sasaki, MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo noted that Boston was expected to push for the young right winger's services.

“In the AL, the Red Sox are taking a pitch to the Sasaki team very seriously,” Mayo wrote. “The main selling point may be the story of Japanese pitchers who have had success and positive experiences in Boston: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Uehara and Junichi Tazawa.

“They have an impressive pitching development program and it certainly doesn't hurt if general manager Craig Breslow can talk to him directly (instead of just passing it off to 'the experts'). Breslow also personally scouted Sasaki for one of his starts in Japan in September.”

Sasaki went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA last season in Japan, striking out 129 and striking out 32 in 111 innings. In his 4 seasons with NPB, Sasaki has a 29-15 record with a 2.10 ERA and 505 strikeouts over 394.2 innings.

Aside from Sasaki's age and impressive stats in Japan, the young star is taken into account a top off-season goal as a consequence of his inexpensive price.

Since Sasaki is an “international amateur” slightly than an unrestricted free agent, any team that eventually signs him can have to sign him to a less expensive minor league contract – and never something just like the 12-year, $325 million deal. Dollars from then – 25 Year-old right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed with the Dodgers last offseason.

“According to reports and comments from team officials at various teams, the Yankees, Mets, Cubs and Rangers have met with Sasaki, while the Giants (according to the ) “believe” they’ve met with the right-hander,” Speier wrote.