Sasaki, Who Wants to Advance to the Big League, Is Japan's Only Unsigned Player... The Union also Left

Conflict with Chiba Lotte over request for early entry into Major League Baseball

Rocky Sasaki (22), who had a conflict with his team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, demanding early entry into the American professional baseball major league, remains the only player among 12 Japanese professional baseball clubs who has not signed a contract for the 2024 salary.

It is known that his players' union, the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association, has also withdrawn, and is receiving cold attention from Japanese media and fans. 먹튀검증가이드

Japanese media such as Sports Hochi said on the 26th, "With Rakuten Golden Eagles outfielder Ryosuke Tatsumi completing his annual salary contract, Sasaki became the only non-contractor as of the 25th," and "There is time until the start of spring camp (February 1), but he is training at his own expense."

“There is a possibility,” he said.

In addition, the controversy grew further as reports emerged that Sasaki had already withdrawn from the players' association in 2023.

It is reported that Sasaki requested Chiba Lotte at the end of last year to “allow him to enter the American professional baseball league,” but was turned down.

Chibar Lotte manager Masato Yoshii, who entered the major league through Japan during his career, opposed Sasaki's early move to the major league, saying, "It is not too late to return the favor to the current club and advance to the United States."

The Japanese media and fans' gaze towards Sasaki is also not positive.

According to the U.S.-Japan professional baseball agreement, Japanese players who try out for the major league before the age of 25 can only sign a 'minor league contract.'

The maximum contract fee a player can receive is only $5.75 million (about KRW 7.7 billion), and the transfer fee a player can receive from his former club is up to $1.44 million (about KRW 1.93 billion).

Sasaki is already attracting the attention of major league clubs by throwing a fast ball that exceeds 160 kilometers per hour.

He even achieved his perfect game in 2022.

However, Japanese media and fans view Sasaki's entry into the big leagues as premature after playing for Chiba Lotte for only three seasons.

Sports Hochi said, “The club and the player have never expressed their position directly, but it appears that Sasaki is demanding early entry into the major leagues and is engaged in a tug-of-war with the club over various conditions.”

He continued, “Sasaki contributed to Japan's victory by starting the semifinal against Mexico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC),”

“However, in the regular season of Japanese professional baseball, he pitched only 15 games due to injuries and other reasons (7 wins, 4 losses).

He pointed out, “He has an ERA of 1.78 and has no experience of playing as a full-time starter for three seasons.”

Sasaki's withdrawal from the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association was also viewed negatively.

Sports Hochi explained, “Sasaki has already left the players' association in 2023, so the functional relationship between his withdrawal from the players' association and his challenge to advance to the major leagues has not been revealed,” but “veterans such as Norichika Aoki, who returned from playing in the major leagues, have joined the players' association.”

“There are cases of withdrawal, but it is unusual for a young player to not belong to the players' association,” he said.

A player's association official commented to Sports Hochi, "We want to support Sasaki's challenge to the major leagues, but fans will not view this type of progress favorably."