Let the waiting game commence.
On Wednesday, Major League Baseball’s 2025 international signing period opened, an annual date of significance around the sport in which top international amateur players can begin signing with MLB teams.
For 27 clubs, that meant an afternoon of flurried activity, with top international prospects officially signing deals that, in many cases, they had effectively been committed to for months, if not years.
However, for the three teams remaining in the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes — the Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays — the opening of the signing period was met with little action, as the three franchises each maintained their hard-capped pool for signing bonuses in anticipation of Sasaki’s decision, which is expected to come sometime before his posting window closes on Jan. 23.
Sasaki, a 23-year-old Japanese star and potential future big-league ace, is classified under MLB rules as a member of the 2025 international signing class (as opposed to an unrestricted free agent) because he is coming over from Japan before turning 25.
League rules put him in the same boat as teenaged prospects from Latin America and other parts of the world: Restricted to signing a standard minor-league contract, and effectively capped signing-bonus-wise by however much money his desired destination has in its international signing pool.
That’s why, as of Wednesday, the Dodgers were doing what they could to preserve their allotment of $5.146 million in international bonus pool money — tied for the smallest amount in MLB because of luxury tax-related penalties, and almost a million behind the $6.126 million available to the Padres and Blue Jays.
While non-Sasaki-finalists inked their international prospects to lucrative deals, the Dodgers (like the Padres and Blue Jays) largely stood pat, having communicated to their top commitments in recent days they would likely have to wait until the Sasaki situation is resolved before finalizing other such contracts.
As a result, three of the top players expected to be in the Dodgers’ 2025 international class reportedly signed elsewhere, including Dominican shortstop Darell Morel (with the Pittsburgh Pirates), Venezuelan outfielder Orlando Patiño (with the Chicago White Sox), and Dominican outfielder Teilon Serrano (with the Minnesota Twins). Only minor signings of $10,000 or less didn’t count against the team’s international bonus pool.
Meanwhile, Dodgers officials have had discussions with several other teams about potentially acquiring more international bonus pool money via trade, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly — though it is believed those talks to this point have been more exploratory in nature.
Bonus pool money can be traded in increments of $250,000, and teams can acquire up to an additional 60% of what was in their original allotment (meaning the Dodgers could potentially add just over another $3 million to their bonus pool). It’s likely the Padres and Blue Jays will also explore similar potential deals.
At this stage, however, it’s unclear if such a maneuver will ultimately be necessary.
Sasaki’s primary motivation, after all, isn’t believed to be money. If it was, he likely would’ve waited to come to the majors in two years when he would have been able to sign an unrestricted deal, perhaps rivaling the 12-year, $325-million contract Yoshinobu Yamamoto received from the Dodgers after signing out of Japan last offseason.
And unless one of Sasaki’s three finalists were to accrue significantly more bonus pool money than the others, the teams’ final offers likely wouldn’t differ by more than a few million at most anyway.
There is also the challenge of valuing what additional bonus pool money is worth on this year’s international market.
When Shohei Ohtani came to MLB ahead of the 2018 season — under the same restrictions as Sasaki as someone who was also 23 at the time — the Angels traded their third-round selection from the 2017 draft, outfielder Jacob Pearson, to acquire $1 million in extra bonus pool money from the Twins. The Dodgers made a similar move in 2023 to sign highly-touted South Korean pitcher Hyun-Seok Jang, dealing two lower-level pitching prospects to the White Sox for reportedly $1 million in additional bonus pool money.
This time, rival clubs could drive a harder bargain for trades involving bonus pool money, especially if it’s seen as a determining factor in Sasaki’s final decision. On the other hand, his finalists could be wary of giving up prospects for more bonus pool money if they aren’t certain Sasaki will sign with them.
While any additional bonus pool money could be used on other international free agents over the remainder of the 2025 signing period, most top-ranked players will already be off the market in the next few days.
That’s why, for now, the three teams left in the Sasaki sweepstakes seemingly remain in a holding pattern; exploring options to acquire more bonus pool money if needed, while remaining hopeful that their respective pitches — which included a second round of meetings with Sasaki for each team in recent days — have done enough to distinguish themselves in the competition for the tantalizingly talented Japanese star.
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