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The defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers landed Japanese righthander Roki Sasaki on Friday night, providing an extreme example of the rich getting richer.
But there’s also another way signing Sasaki could benefit the Dodgers. He could earn them a valuable draft pick as well.
Because he does not meet the standards to be viewed as a “foreign professional,” Sasaki is eligible for the Prospect Performance Incentive (PPI).
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To meet PPI eligibility standards, a player must be a rookie with fewer than 60 days of service time on an MLB roster (active or the injured list). He must accrue a full season of MLB service time in his rookie season and he has to be on two of three Top 100 Prospect lists (Baseball America, MLB.com and ESPN.com). Players who meet the “foreign professional” standards in the MLB collective bargaining agreement (players who are 25-years-old or older and have seven or more years of experience in a top-level international league) are explicitly ineligible for PPI picks.
Sasaki meets the rookie standard and it would be shocking if he doesn’t meet the full season of service time standard. He’s unlikely to spend any time in the minors in 2025. Even if he misses time with an injury, time on the MLB injured list counts toward a full season of MLB service time.
So the only other hurdle is ranking on two of three Top 100 Prospect lists. We can’t speak for MLB.com or ESPN.com, but Sasaki will be on Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospect rankings when we unveil our rankings on Jan. 22.
While we no longer include players deemed “foreign professionals” in our Top 100 Prospect rankings, Sasaki is eligible since he signed an MiLB contract and entered MLB through the international signing bonus pool system.
So if either ESPN or MLB ranks Sasaki, he will be PPI eligible. Then if he wins the NL Rookie of the Year, or finishes in the top three in the Cy Young Award voting in any season before he qualifies for arbitration, he will earn the Dodgers a PPI pick at the end of the first round of the following MLB draft. (Technically a top three MVP vote would also meet the standards, but no pitcher will finish top three in the MVP voting and outside the top three in Cy Young Award voting).
In 2024, the D-backs picked 31st (drafting Kentucky outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt) and the Orioles drafted 32nd (drafting Virginia shortstop Griff O’Ferrall) with PPI picks earned for Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson’s rookie of the year awards. In 2023, the Mariners drafted outfielder Jonny Farmelo 29th overall with a PPI pick awarded for Julio Rodriguez’s rookie of the year award. The Royals will get a PPI pick in 2025 because of Bobby Witt Jr.’s top three finish in the AL MVP race.
So in addition to signing because of MLB rules for a far-below market rate, Sasaki could give the Dodgers a very valuable draft pick in an upcoming season.
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