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Hard-throwing Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki was posted to Major League Baseball teams and will be available to sign as a free agent from Tuesday through 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 23.
The Chiba Lotte Marines said on Nov. 9 that they planned to make the 23-year-old Sasaki available but waited until less than a week before the end of the posting period.
Because he is 23, Sasaki is considered an international amateur by MLB and is limited to a minor league contract subject to the international signing bonus pools usually allocated for 16-year-old Latin American prospects. The 2024 signing period ends Sunday and the 2025 period opens on Jan. 15, with team pools ranging from $7,555,500 to $5,146,200.
Teams may trade for additional pool allotment in $250,000 increments starting Jan. 15 but are limited to adding 60% of their initial amount.
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Chiba will receive a posting fee from the acquiring MLB team equal to 25% of the signing bonus.
[Read more: Who is Roki Sasaki? What to know about the Japanese pitching sensation bound for MLB]
When Shohei Ohtani agreed to join the Los Angeles Angels in December 2016 at age 23, he received a $2,315,000 signing bonus. Ohtani had salaries of $545,000, $650,000 and $259,259 (in pandemic-shortened 2020) during his first three seasons, earned $3 million, $5.5 million and $30 million in his three years of arbitration eligibility and then agreed to a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the 2024 season.
Sasaki is represented by Joel Wolfe of Wasserman Media Group and is expected to become one of the most sought-after pitchers on the market. He went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 games this year, striking out 129 hitters in 111 innings.
[Read more: Ten biggest contracts in MLB history: Juan Soto’s $765 million with Mets tops list]
Sasaki helped Japan win the 2023 World Baseball Classic. His fastball has been clocked at 102.5 mph, and he has a 29-15 career record with a 2.10 ERA over four injury-shortened seasons with the Marines. He pitched a perfect game against the Orix Buffaloes in April 2022 — racking up 13 straight strikeouts and finishing with 19.
“Since I joined the team, the team has been listening to my thoughts about my future MLB challenge, and I am very grateful to the team for officially allowing me to post,” Sasaki said in a Nov. 9 statement posted by the Marines on the social platform X.
“There were many things that did not go well during my five years with the Marines, but I was able to get to this point by concentrating only on baseball, with the support of my teammates, staff, front office, and fans. I will do my best to work my way up from my minor contract to become the best player in the world, so that I will have no regrets in my one and only baseball career and live up to the expectations of everyone who has supported me.”
The Athletics, Cincinnati, Detroit, Miami, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Seattle and Tampa Bay enter the international signing period with $7,555,500 available for each.
Arizona, Baltimore, Cleveland, Colorado, Kansas City and Pittsburgh have $6,908,600 apiece, followed by Atlanta, Boston, the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, the Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets and Yankees, Philadelphia, San Diego, Texas, Toronto and Washington at $6,261,600.
Houston and St. Louis each have $5,646,200, and the Dodgers and San Francisco have $5,146,200.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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DALLAS — Talk about a New York City robbery. It wasn’t just the top free-agent jewel that the Mets stole from the Yankees; Steve Cohen hijacked the crown, too.
Less than two months after Juan Soto helped take the Yankees to the World Series, Cohen’s Mets blew him away Sunday with the largest contract in professional sports history. Soto did end up going to the highest bidder — the Mets’ reported pact with the slugger is for $765 million over 15 years. But the Yankees’ offer apparently wasn’t too far behind, bringing into question whether Soto wanted to play in Queens all along.
If that’s the case, then there could be a couple of factors that swayed him one borough over.
The Yankees’ reported offer of $760 million over 16 years would’ve given Soto an average annual value of $47.5 million, which is just $3.5 million shy per year of what he’ll earn with the Mets. Soto’s Mets deal also reportedly includes a $75 million signing bonus. If that difference in dollar amount is all that mattered to Soto, then it makes sense that he agreed to the highest offer on the table. But since the Yankees’ offer was pretty close to what he ended up agreeing to, it sure seems like Soto wanted to make a statement that both fan bases in New York won’t take lightly.
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RELATED: Ten biggest contracts in MLB history: Juan Soto’s $765 million with Mets tops list
The Mets — not the Yankees — represented the more appealing long-term destination to Soto in part because of how much they were willing to spend, no doubt. But Cohen also prioritizes getting to know the people in his organization — from players, to front office personnel, to security staffers — on an intimate level. He forms that relationship by routinely appearing on the field, walking through the Mets clubhouse, and just simply being available and around. Cohen’s wife, Alex, spends time around the Mets dugout, catching up with players during batting practice, too. It’s rare for any owner in professional sports to be as visible as the Cohens are with the Mets. Just take a look at the situation across town.
Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner doesn’t mingle in the clubhouse, and is rarely spotted around Yankee Stadium to talk with his players. One former Yankees player who spent eight seasons in pinstripes said he spoke to Steinbrenner just once or twice during his time in the Bronx. Steinbrenner has a closer relationship with captain Aaron Judge, particularly after Judge’s frenzied 2022 free agency that resulted in Steinbrenner getting on the phone and completing a long-term pact with the Yankees slugger. Judge confirmed as recently as last month that he has an open line of communication with Steinbrenner, and he appreciates that availability from the owner.
Apparently, Steinbrenner doesn’t share that same dynamic with many in the building, let alone the guy who was his No. 1 priority this winter. Soto asked Steinbrenner, when the two sides met in California last month, why he didn’t approach him during this past season in the Bronx, and he wondered why the owner didn’t try to form a closer relationship with Soto. Steinbrenner, fairly or not, said he wanted to give Soto space because he was so clearly locked in, enjoying his best career season, and he didn’t want to get in the way of that.
In the end, waiting to form a close relationship with Soto might have been a colossal mistake on Steinbrenner’s part.
Cohen’s players routinely voice how much they love playing for the Mets because it feels like a family. There’s an open trust around Citi Field, particularly during this David Stearns/Carlos Mendoza era. Mets players have said they feel like they can be themselves in Queens.
One recent moment that painted a picture of the Cohens feeling like “one of the guys” to left-hander Sean Manaea was when Alex Cohen’s dad, affectionately known as Mets grandpa, was doused in champagne in the middle of their clubhouse after they advanced to the National League Championship Series.
Through that everyday visibility, Cohen sends the message that he cares about his team. And for the players that go through the 162-game grind of a season, in hopes of reaching October and ultimately being the last team standing, having that open relationship with the top brass in the organization matters a great deal. Shortstop and de-facto captain Francisco Lindor says it all the time: It takes every single person in the organization to win, and that includes the responsibility of the ownership to form a close relationship with players, the front office working hard to fill roster holes, and the manager sticking up for his clubhouse.
As MLB’s winter meetings unfold in Dallas this week, Cohen’s commitment to winning has never been clearer.
No one was going to stop him from acquiring Soto, certainly not the crosstown rival Yankees nor MLB’s luxury tax penalty, when all he had to do was continue to increase his offer. When Cohen bought the Mets franchise in 2020, he said he wanted to win the World Series in the ensuing 3-5 years. The upcoming season will be Year 5. Snatching Soto from the Yankees was a statement-making step in that championship-caliber direction, and the Mets are a threat to win it all with the generational slugger suiting up in the orange and blue — for the next decade and a half.
Welcome to the newest era of Mets baseball, where the little brother might have just become the bully.
Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
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Juan Soto’s new contract has set a record, but there are some complexities to it.
The newest New York Mets star agreed to a 15-year, $765 million deal with his former team’s crosstown rival late Sunday night. Not only does the contract surpass the $700 million deal that Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason, but it’s also the largest deal in North American sports history.
Here’s what else we know.
No deferred money
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Unlike Ohtani’s contract, Soto will receive zero deferred money, according to ESPN.Ohtani memorably had $680 million of his $700 million contract deferred, which brought the average annual value of the contract for Competitive Balance Tax purposes down to $46 million, as estimated by MLB. So, the $51 million average annual value of Soto’s contract would be the richest in MLB history, at least as it relates to the luxury tax.
It could end up being worth more than $800 million
As part of the deal, Soto received a $75 million signing bonus, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.
But the deal has the potential to become even richer. It includes escalators that would bring its value to more than $800 million, according to ESPN.
There’s an opt-out clause
The deal also allows Soto to potentially become a free agent again in his prime. Soto, 26, will have an opt-out following the fifth season of the deal in 2028 when he’s 31, according to multiple reports.
However, the Mets can void Soto’s opt-out if he were to exercise that option. In that event, New York would escalate the average annual value of his contract from $51 million to $55 million over the final 10 seasons of the deal, according to Rosenthal.
Soto rejected big-money offers from the Yankees and Red Sox
Soto also turned down multiple offers worth at least $700 million. His former team, the New York Yankees, made him a 16-year, $760 million offer, the New York Post reported. As the total value of the Yankees’ offer fell just short, it was believed that Soto’s old club was in the lead to land his services before Mets owner Steve Cohen “came in from the top rope,” to get the deal done, SNY reported.
The Boston Red Sox, who were also in on Soto, made an offer that was worth around $700 million over 15 years, per MassLive. It was reported earlier in the week that the Toronto Blue Jays had a bid that was competitive with what the other teams in the sweepstakes were pitching at the time, while the Dodgers were just a little bit behind.
Even though anyone would be happy to be in a position to juggle multiple $700 million offers, Soto seemed to be overjoyed by his decision on Sunday. His brother posted a video on social media of Soto getting sprayed by drinks, ending the priciest sweepstakes in the history of North American sports.
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From the moment Steve Cohen bought the New York Mets, the accompanying tagline has been that he’s the richest owner in baseball. That manifested more than ever on the eve of the 2024 winter meetings, as the Mets and superstar outfielder Juan Soto on Sunday night reportedly agreed to a 15-year, $765 million deal. It is the largest (and longest) deal in MLB history, topping Shohei Ohtani‘s $700 million pact with the Dodgers from last year.
Here’s a look at the top 10 deals ever doled out in MLB, and how those players performed after signing their historic contracts.
(Note: these values are based on data from Spotrac.com)
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Juan Soto is remaining in New York, but he’s switching boroughs.
The superstar outfielder has agreed to a 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets, the New York Post reported Sunday. The contract is the largest in total value in MLB history, surpassing the 10-year, $700 million pact Shohei Ohtani signed to join the Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason.
With the deal, the Mets add one of the most talented young hitters in recent memory and will have him for several of his prime seasons. Soto, 26, posted a .288/.419/.569 slashline with 41 homers and 109 RBIs to help the Yankees reach the World Series in his first and only season in The Bronx.
Soto, a four-time All-Star, is already a well-decorated player for his age and has even drawn comparisons to all-time greats like Ted Williams. Although he’s yet to win an MVP award, he finished third in AL MVP voting this past season, marking his fourth top-six MVP finish over the last six seasons. Among active hitters, he ranks 20th in career batting average (.285), first in on-base percentage (.421), fourth in slugging percentage (.532), third in OPS (.953) and 11th in at-bats per home run (16.3). He’s also recorded 201 homers and 934 hits in 936 career games.
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Soto’s free agency has been highly anticipated in MLB circles over the last few years. He reportedly turned down a 15-year, $440 million contract extension from the Washington Nationals in 2022, just three seasons after he helped them win a World Series. That contract rejection led the Nationals to trade Soto to the San Diego Padres in July 2022. Soto and the Padres reached the NLCS later that season, but San Diego traded him to New York after the team had a disappointing year in 2023.
Even as the Yankees made their run to the World Series this past season, Soto’s free agency continued to dominate headlines. By the time the offseason began, only a handful of teams met and extended him an offer as he was projected to sign a contract worth at least $600 million.
The process to sign Soto moved relatively quickly after teams met with him and his agent, Scott Boras, at his agent’s office in Southern California in November. At that point, it was expected that Soto would sign a deal by the end of the winter meetings, serving as one of the first major dominoes to fall this offseason.
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Dave Parker and Dick Allen were elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame on Sunday by the classic era committee.
Parker received 14 of 16 votes and Allen got 13. A vote of 75% or more was needed for election.
They will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 27 along with players voted in by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, whose balloting will be announced on Jan. 21.
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Tommy John was third with seven votes on a committee that considered candidates whose primary impact was before 1980. Ken Boyer, John Donaldson, Steve Garvey, Vic Harris and Luis Tiant each received less than five votes.
Parker, 73, hit .290 with 339 homers and 1,493 RBIs for Pittsburgh (1973-83), Cincinnati (1984-87), Oakland (1988-89), Milwaukee (1990), California (1991) and Toronto (1991).
He won World Series titles in 1979 and ’89, was the 1978 NL MVP, won the 1977 and ’78 NL batting titles and was a seven-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove right fielder.
Allen, who died in 2020 at age 78, hit .292 with 351 homers and 1,119 RBIs from 1963-77 for Philadelphia (1963-69, 1975-76), St. Louis (1970), the Los Angeles Dodgers (1971), Chicago White Sox (1972-74) and Oakland (1977).
Known as Richie Allen with the Phillies before asking to be referred to as Dick for the rest of his career, Allen was a seven-time All-Star who was voted the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1972 AL MVP.
Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Félix Hernández are among the 14 players eligible for the BBWAA ballot for the first time in the upcoming vote. Holdovers include Billy Wagner, who was five votes shy last January.
Parker never got more 24.5% during 15 appearances on the BBWAA ballot from 1997-2011. He was on fewer than six ballots from the 2013 expansion era committee and was on seven from the 2019 modern era committee, which considered candidates from 1970-87.
Allen received a high of 18.9% on the BBWAA ballot from 1983-97, then fell short in a series of committee votes.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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The San Francisco Giants have finally landed a big fish. It only took the better part of a decade and the individual with the largest deal in franchise history to make it happen. Shortstop Willy Adames now holds that distinction, however, as his reported seven-year deal for $182 million tops that of new president of baseball operations Buster Posey.
The Giants, and perhaps Posey, found themselves in this position partly because the club’s 13-year, $350 million pact with Carlos Correa two winters ago fell through over concerns about his medicals. While Correa is coming off another All-Star (yet abbreviated) season, the Twins are reportedly open to trading the 30-year-old despite four years left on his contract. The 29-year-old Adames, meanwhile, is coming off perhaps the best year of his career with the Brewers.
That prompted the following debate between our MLB writers:
Money being equal, who would you rather have for the next five years, Willy Adames or Carlos Correa?
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Rowan Kavner: This is a close call considering Adames’ durability and home run ability, but I have to go with the upside of Correa. He’s a year older with a concerning injury history, but he’s also a three-time All-Star, former Rookie of the Year and Platinum Glove winner and, as his .905 OPS this year demonstrated, a potential MVP contender when he’s healthy. The downside, of course, is that he often isn’t.
Adames is a much better bet to actually stay on the field. He’s a consistently above-average player who just produced a career year offensively, though his high strikeout and whiff rates cap his offensive ceiling. The highest wRC+ Adames has produced in a season was 126 (he was 26% better than league average offensively in the shortened 2020 season); Correa, meanwhile, has averaged a 127 wRC+ for his career (and a 126 mark over the past four years).
Since 2021, Correa and Adames rank sixth and eighth, respectively, in FanGraphs’ version of WAR among shortstops. Limit it to the past three seasons, and they’re 10th and ninth. In other words, they’ve provided close to the same value in recent years, despite Adames playing in almost 100 more games during that stretch. You can look at that two ways. One, Adames has been the more reliable player. Two, Correa is usually the more productive player when he does play. Adames leaves the yard more often, but Correa hits the ball harder, strikes out less and reaches base more often. Adames has produced between 3-5 WAR and played in at least 139 games each of the past four seasons, but he has never had a season worth 5.0 or more WAR and has never been an All-Star. Correa, meanwhile, has played in 139 games just once since 2017, but the ceiling (as evidenced by his MLB-best 7.2 bWAR season in 2021) is considerably higher.
After a down year in 2023, Correa displayed both what remains in the tank and the dangers of relying on him to stay healthy in 2024. He slashed .310/.388/.517 with encouraging underlying numbers in an All-Star season but missed half the year with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Even with Adames producing one of his best seasons ever — the former Brewers shortstop finished in the top 10 in MVP voting for the first time while posting career highs in hits, homers, RBI and stolen bases — Correa provided about the same value in about half the games.
I mentioned in our roundtable this week that I thought Adames was a perfect match for the Giants, who needed help up the middle defensively and a difference-maker in the lineup (the deal he was offered was exactly the max I said I would have given him). He was the type of player the Giants needed to get. But if I were picking between the two, I’d lean toward Correa, whose greater risk comes with greater reward.
Deesha Thosar: Adames. Perhaps the recency bias of his successful walk year is swaying me, but the 29-year-old’s career-high of 161 games in 2024 represent a major highlight, particularly when comparing him to Correa. As noted, the Giants broke their agreement with Correa a couple of winters ago because of medical issues, and there should be zero concerns about Adames’ physical health this time around. Given Buster Posey’s workhorse regimen during his prime years in San Francisco, it’s likely that Adames’ durability stood out to the new Giants front office leader — as it should. Avoiding major injuries, and playing through minor maladies, is not only becoming increasingly rare in today’s game, it’s an asset that Correa simply doesn’t have. Correa’s 86 games played in 2024 and the ongoing never-ending questions about his longevity are drawbacks that are really tough to look beyond.
Especially for someone like Posey, who is at the early stages of setting a new standard of stability for Giants baseball, it’s important to field a roster of players who can be counted on. Not only was Adames known as a clubhouse leader in Milwaukee, he was a dependable bat at a premium position, too. Of course, shortstops age rapidly, so there is a general risk of physical decline in the field with Adames. But the pop in his bat, which has played well at Oracle Park, can offset some of his defensive concerns, and his dependability goes a long way when considering a deal for the next five years. Adames has a .321 batting average, .381 on-base percentage, and .827 OPS in 63 plate appearances at Oracle. Now, the two home runs he’s hit in that span are lackluster, but that’s to be expected in the pitcher-friendly ballpark. I’m expecting Adames’ walk rate to offset some of those power concerns.
As for Correa, he always looks like he’s on the cusp of reclaiming his Houston superstar days — right up until he inevitably suffers an injury. There is no doubt at this point that those evaluating Correa for a five-year pact must readjust their expectations. Correa, who missed significant time with plantar fasciitis this past season, cannot make any promises about his finicky foot, which casts long-term concern on how much production to expect from the shortstop. I would be much more weary of going down that road with Correa than committing to a solid, albeit pricey, pact with Adames.
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
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Willy Adames has agreed to a $182 million, seven-year contract with San Francisco, providing the Giants with a power-hitting shortstop in the prime of his career, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on Saturday on condition of anonymity because the agreement was pending a physical. ESPN first reported the move.
The 29-year-old Adames is coming off his best offensive season in the big leagues after hitting .251 with a career-high 32 homers and 112 RBIs with the Milwaukee Brewers. He’s a solid shortstop with a strong arm and good range, though his defensive metrics slipped a little in 2024.
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He also has provided consistent power with 150 homers over seven seasons. He broke into the big leagues in 2018 with Tampa Bay and hit 20 homers in his first full season in 2019.
He was traded to the Brewers in 2021 and had one of his best seasons in 2022, slugging 31 homers with 98 RBIs and had a 4.3 WAR.
Adames was signed by the Detroit Tigers in 2012 as a 16-year-old in the Dominican Republic.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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Deciding whether Juan Soto tops Shohei Ohtani for baseball’s largest contract could be in the eye of the beholder because of all the deferred money in Ohtani’s deal.
Ohtani agreed last December to a $700 million, 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, easily exceeding the previous high set when Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels struck a $426.5 million, 12-year agreement through 2030.
Ohtani’s deal includes $680 million in deferred money payable from 2034-43. There are several interpretations of how to value that deal in current dollars:
Soto could get a contract of 10-to-15 years for $600 million or more.
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His agent, Scott Boras, is not a big fan of deferred money and thinks teams might not insist on delaying the cash.
“I think it’s much less of an issue than it was before,” Boras said. “Deferral as a mechanism for me, is it: Will it impede my ability to get the greatest asset I can acquire? And the answer to that is, I don’t think they’re going to want to do anything that impedes their primary pursuit and goal.”
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The interest figure used for discounting to determine luxury tax value is set in the collective bargaining agreement as the federal mid-term rate defined in section 1274(d) of the Internal Revenue Code for the October preceding the initial contract year.
That rate dropped to 3.7% this offseason, which meant if Ohtani’s deal had been agreed to this month, its annual luxury tax value would have been about $49.3 million. That would have resulted in an additional $3.5 million annual tax bill for the Dodgers, who would exceed the top threshold and would pay additional tax at a 110% rate on each dollar.
MLB’s regular payrolls, which use the same rate as the one for calculating the qualifying offer price based on the 125 largest contracts, use the prime rate set by JPMorgan Chase on the preceding Nov. 1 plus 1%, rounded to the nearest full percentage point. That figure dropped to 9% for this offseason.
Deferred compensation must be funded by the second July 1 after the season in which it was earned, discounted to a present-day value at a 5% rate.
Los Angeles owes deferred payments just over $1 billion due from 2028-46 to Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Teoscar Hernández, Blake Snell and Tommy Edman.
“It’s just trying to kick dollars down the road,” St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said at the general managers’ meetings last month.
Ohtani’s payments are two-thirds of the total owed.
“It was a unique situation for where a club was, a unique situation for a player who has very significant earning potential outside of strictly his compensation from a club,” New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “Those other ones are much more representative of what you see in sort of standard contracts around the industry. Each organization, each ownership group is going to have a slightly different perspective on this, on how they’re calculating the returns off of that deferred compensation.”
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Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said his team’s leadership from Guggenheim Baseball Management has the expertise to fund deferred compensation wisely.
“A lot of our ownership group are from financial background and can have that money going to work right now,” he said.
MLB proposed during collective bargaining on June 21, 2021, to put an end to the practice.
“For contracts entered into after the effective date of the Basic Agreement, deferred compensation of any kind will not be permitted,” the proposal read, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press.
That idea was rejected by the union and not included in the five-year agreement that expires in December 2026.
New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman thinks his team’s large resources encourage players to seek their money as soon as possible.
“We’re open to deferrals,” he said. “A lot of times players are less open to doing deferrals for us than they are for maybe other markets, but if we can do stuff that benefits us, of course we will.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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