Sources - Roki Sasaki expected to be posted at winter meetings - ESPN

Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki is expected to be officially posted at Major League Baseball's winter meetings next week, sources told ESPN on Saturday, opening a 45-day window in which teams will try to convince him to choose them once the international amateur signing period opens Jan. 15.

Sasaki, 23, is widely regarded as one of the world's most talented pitchers. His team in Nippon Professional Baseball, the Chiba Lotte Marines, announced Nov. 9 that they planned to place him in the posting system, the method of transfer between NPB and MLB teams. The window is expected to open Tuesday, sources said.

Because MLB rules dictate that foreign professionals under 25 years old and with fewer than six years' experience must sign as international amateurs, Sasaki's contract will be for a fraction of what he would receive as a major league free agent.

The ability for teams to secure a potential front-line starter on a steep discount is expected to lead to a furious recruitment of Sasaki. In the capped international-amateur system, the top bonus pools are around $7.5 million and the bottom around $5.1 million, with a team able to trade for up to an additional 60% of its pool money.

While Sasaki could sign before the expiration of the current international-amateur period that ends Dec. 15, he plans to do so after Jan. 15, when the new period opens. Most teams have committed their pools to teenage prospects from Latin America, but those agreements are nonbinding, and whichever team Sasaki chooses will be faced with a conundrum on how to handle those verbal agreements.

Teams say they believe Sasaki is worth the turbulence. With a triple-digit fastball, arguably the best split-fingered fastball in the world and a slider, his