DALLAS — The Yankees, too, have been preparing for Roki Sasaki.
Club scouts and GM Brian Cashman himself have flown to Japan to get a look at the young star pitcher, who officially was posted this week so he can join a big league team next season.
The Yankees already have prepped a virtual presentation, Cashman said, that will represent Step 1 of what they hope is several steps toward landing a pitcher who will garner interest from all 30 teams.
Teams submit their pitches to Sasaki, who then will take meetings with contenders.
Getting posted opened a 45-day window in which Sasaki can sign, which will not happen until at least Jan. 15.
Because the 23-year-old is treated as an international amateur, he is only eligible to sign for the money in teams’ international free-agency pools — a potential ace who can be grabbed for just a few million dollars.
“It’s a big arm with a big desire to be great,” Cashman said Wednesday from the Winter Meetings. “His intent is to be one of the game’s greatest pitchers on the planet, and we certainly would love to participate in allowing that to happen.”
The Dodgers, who already feature Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in their rotation, are seen as the favorites.
The Padres are a contender in part because of Sasaki’s relationship with Yu Darvish. Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, said Tuesday that Masahiro Tanaka was one of Sasaki’s baseball idols growing up.
Cashman declined to reveal whether he would call in Tanaka to help with the club’s pitch.
He did mention positive experiences with Tanaka, Hideki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki and Hiroki Kuroda in selling the organization.
“This is a tremendous place to play,” Cashman said. “It’s a winning culture historically and on a consistent basis. Year in and year out, a team that’s a playoff-caliber team and that takes a chance at a championship. Playing in front of packed houses and in arguably one of the greatest cities in the world.
“We have a lot to offer. We’ll make sure that we present all of those facts and then see where it takes us.”
Wolfe said that he did not know what Sasaki would value most in deciding upon a team. Sasaki could choose a smaller market after poor experiences with Japanese media, Wolfe added, though he was speculating.
“The best I can say is he has paid attention to how teams have done as far as overall success, both this year and in the recent past,” Wolfe said. “He does watch a lot of Major League Baseball. He’s paid attention to what his [World Baseball Classic] teammates have done. He asked a lot of questions about weather, about comfortability, about pitching development and watching how other Japanese players in the major leagues are doing.”
