In the foreseeable future, St. Louis might try to land the phenomenon.
The St. Louis Cardinals might want to make a big splash in the upcoming summer.
The main area of uncertainty for St. Louis remains their starting lineup. Although the Cardinals made some additions throughout the summer, they still need to improve.Three-time All-Star Sonny Gray was undoubtedly the greatest move made by the Cardinals, but if the team hopes to contend, they’ll probably need to add another significant player before the trade deadline or over the upcoming summer.
Rōki Sasaki, a youthful star, is one player who Major League Baseball teams are already taking notice of. The 22-year-old, who pitches for the Nippon Professional Baseball’s Chiba Lotte Marines, has already expressed his desire to quickly enter the major leagues.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are now seen as the favorites, but it’s uncertain where he will ultimately end up. However, according to MLB Trade Rumors’ Leo Morgenstern, the Cardinals also dispatched a representative to scout the young superstar.
“Eight (Major League Baseball) teams sent representatives to watch NPB ace Rōki Sasaki’s latest start, according to articles from Sports Hochi and Yahoo Japan, as relayed by Dylan Hernández of The Los Angeles Times and Andy Martino of SNY, respectively,” Morgenstern stated. The New York Yankees, New York Mets, Dodgers, and Cardinals were among those teams.
“At barely 22 years old, Sakaki is already among Japan’s top pitchers. He has pitched 283 2/3 innings with 376 strikeouts and a 2.00 ERA across three NPB seasons. The star player gained notoriety the previous winter when it was reported that he requested to be posted for MLB teams well in advance of the usual schedule. MLB does not permit players who are younger than 25 or who have played in fewer than six seasons to sign a contract that is any higher than a minor league one.”
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a fellow phenom, was not overlooked by St. Louis. It appears that the club will try to enter the eventual Sasaki sweepstakes as well.
