Latest on Roki Sasaki's free agency: Team to beat, MLB comps - ESPN

Happy Roki Sasaki Week!

After announcing his intention to come to MLB at the start of the 2024-25 offseason, the 23-year-old Japanese free agent immediately became the most coveted pitcher available this winter thanks to his combination of talent and age, and the parameters of his contract.

With the 2025 international free agent signing period opening Jan. 15 and Sasaki's posting window closing on Jan. 23, we could find out where Sasaki is headed as soon as Wednesday.

Because Sasaki decided to come to the majors before his 25th birthday, he is limited to a minor league deal with a signing bonus coming from a team's international bonus pool (capped at just over $7.5 million). That makes the emerging ace a rare free agent star every team can afford to sign.

As we wait for Sasaki's destination to come into focus, we asked our MLB experts what makes him so good, which major league pitchers he reminds us of, and which teams seem most likely to land him.

Monday update: Sasaki plans to sign with either the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres or Toronto Blue Jays at some point over the next week or so, sources told ESPN, with a cadre of big-name teams informed in recent days they are no longer in consideration.

Bradford Doolittle: He's young, accomplished and with measurable tools that might make him baseball's top prospect right now. But he's not a prospect in the «maybe he'll be 'X' if he reaches his ceiling» but one that's already been successful in a high-level league and can slide into a big league rotation. A limited workload threshold, for now, is the only thing that's really holding back Sasaki's 2025 projection. With his full collection of team control seasons intact, there is no risk to signing him. And as good as he