Major League Baseball's new international amateur free-agent signing cycle opened Wednesday, meaning that Japanese ace Roki Sasaki will soon make his long-awaited free-agent decision over the coming days.

The Detroit Tigers didn't try to sign Shohei Ohtani in 2017. A lot has changed since then, exemplified by an attempt to sign Roki Sasaki in 2024-25.

Roki Sasaki can sign with Major League Baseball teams during a nine-day window starting Wednesday, an unusual free agency with ripple effects for Latin American teenagers whose unofficial agreements worth millions are on hold pending his decision.

The Roki Saski Sweepstakes are coming down to the wire in Major League Baseball. The 23-year-old Japanese pitching star has been the biggest international prize this offseason with seemingly all the usual suspects making their best effort for the righty.

The Mets have been in a verbal agreement to sign the No. 2 international prospect Elian Peña out of the Dominican Republic — Sasaki is No. 1. With their international bonus pool money, $6,261,600, according to Baseball America, set to replenish Wednesday, they’ll have enough to officially sign Peña.

The Toronto Blue Jays shocked the baseball world this week by being named as a finalist for 23-year-old Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki. The prodigee throws m