The dream is dead. Roki Sasaki will not be choosing the Chicago Cubs in International Free Agency.
Per Sahadev Sharma, the Cubs have been informed that they, like the Giants, Mets, Yankees, and Rangers were told earlier today, are out.
It’s all but certain, as it has been for about a year, that Sasaki is going to “choose” the Dodgers and this will be revealed as the farce it was all along. The Padres are still getting a lot of hype from folks, I suppose, but I’ve never been able to shake those early Dodgers rumors. It felt like a done deal from the word go.
Either way, it ain’t the Cubs. And that sucks.
At least now the Cubs can get on with (1) their upcoming IFA class and hopefully adding to it thanks to whatever Sasaki fallout there is, and (2) the rest of their offseason. I understand, this close to the Sasaki decision, holding back on any additional moves. If he’d chosen the Cubs, it really could’ve transformed their approach the rest of the way. But he didn’t. It’s over. Time to get busy on *AT A MINIMUM* adding an impact arm in the bullpen, and a high-quality bench bat.
UPDATE: In case you care at this point, I guess let’s root for the Blue Jays:
The finalists for Japanese star right-hander Roki Sasaki are the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays, sources tell ESPN. Sasaki will decide on his team by the closing of his posting window Jan. 23.— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 13, 2025
Also, let’s maybe root for the Cubs to pick off some IFA prospects during the period Sasaki makes those three teams wait.