Sasaki to San Diego? Mike Shildt Drops Hint About Padres Chances of Landing Japanese Superstar

Everyone in Major League Baseball is getting over the adrenaline rush of the Juan Soto sweepstakes, but another may soon be inbound.

Japanese superstar pitcher Rōki Sasaki, just 23 years old and possessing a 102-mile-per-hour fastball, is coming to MLB in 2025. He was officially posted on Monday, and now has until Jan. 23 to sign with his new club.

Sasaki could be a top-flight ace, one which teams would be willing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for. But due to his age, Sasaki is only eligible to sign a minor-league contract with a seven-figure signing bonus, which makes him the most valuable commodity imaginable.

To many, the Los Angeles Dodgers have long been the clear and heavy favorites for Sasaki, but the San Diego Padres have lurked as the underdogs. Sasaki once idolized Padres pitcher Yu Darvish, who was his mentor with Team Japan during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

However, San Diego manager Mike Shildt wanted to set the record straight on Monday. He doesn’t believe the Padres are underdogs at all, and in fact, he expressed his full-on belief that general manger A.J. Preller and the front office could get a deal done with the young star.

“We should be very legitimate contenders,” Shildt said Monday on MLB Network Radio. “We fully expect to be right there in the mix and at the end of the day have Sasaki a Padre.”

Shildt also described all the advantages the Padres had in recruiting international players, including the presence of Darvish and Yuki Matsui on the active roster, Hideo Nomo in the front office, and even Preller learning Japanese to recruit Ohtani back in 2017.

“We’ve got a lot of inroads to get to Sasaki, and I know we’re gonna put the full-court press to make it happen.”

Sasaki has a 2.10 ERA and 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings in four career seasons in NPB, the highest level of Japanese professional baseball. His fastball-splitter combo is considered lethal, possibly becoming the best two-pitch combo in MLB the minute he joins the league.

Any advantage the Padres possess in landing Sasaki at this point is worth its weight in gold. But when you’re going up against the defending champion Dodgers, it’s also wise not to be overconfident.