The baseball world waits for Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki to announce which Major League Baseball team he will sign with. The international signing period begins Wednesday, and ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports sources say Sasaki will sign with either the Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, or Los Angeles Dodgers.
Those three teams might be patient enough to wait for Sasaki’s decision. Still, a few international prospects who verbally committed to the Dodgers before Wednesday became increasingly unsettled that their future team would withdraw from their first professional contract to sign Sasaki. The two-time NPB All-Star is under 25 and did not accumulate nine seasons of Nippon Professional Baseball service time, limiting MLB teams to signing him as an amateur with international bonus pool money.
The Dodgers had a verbal commitment with 17-year-old Dominican shortstop Darrell Morel and were initially expected to make his signing official this Wednesday. Instead, the six-foot-five Morel will sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates for around $1.7 million, Francys Romero wrote in an X post on January 11. Ben Badler of Baseball America reports Morel’s contract with the Pirates is almost twice the money of his original agreement with the Dodgers.
In addition to Morel, Venezuelan outfielder Orlando Patino backed out of his verbal agreement with the Dodgers and will reportedly sign with the Chicago White Sox (per Baseball America). Like Morel, Patino will see a hefty increase in his signing bonus. Badler reports Patino’s original agreement with the Dodgers was for $400,000, but he is expected to sign a $570,000 pact with the White Sox.
Losing Morel and Patino to other organizations would sting the Dodgers tremendously if they did not land Sasaki. Additionally, Sasaki’s posting window closes on Thursday, January 23, and there’s no guarantee he will decide on Wednesday. The Dodgers, Padres, and Blue Jays could be left wondering where they stand in the sweepstakes for several days.
