The Giants are currently introducing future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander at a press conference, but there’s some other headline news coming out of that media session as well. Giants general manager Zack Minasian revealed during his comments that while his team met with Roki Sasaki’s camp, they’ve now been informed that Sasaki will not be signing there (link via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area).
There are no further details on the matter than that. It’s not fully clear whether Sasaki visited Oracle Park in San Francisco or whether the meeting being referenced was conducted in Los Angeles, at the headquarters for Sasaki’s agency, Wasserman. That’s moot at this juncture anyhow, though, as the Giants’ elimination from the process is the latest step in narrowing the field.
Agent Joel Wolfe detailed at last month’s Winter Meetings that the plan for Sasaki’s free agency was for teams to submit initial presentations and pitches prior to the holidays. Sasaki and Wasserman hosted interested teams for meetings at a central location — Wasserman’s L.A. headquarters — and the plan was for the 23-year-old righty to then visit some finalists in their home locales after the holidays.
A full list of teams with which he’s visited isn’t publicly known, though Sasaki did travel to Toronto to meet with the Blue Jays recently. Presumably, with Wasserman being based in Los Angeles, Sasaki has met with the Dodgers and nearby Padres — the two long-presumed favorites in the bidding. Other clubs that have been prominently linked to Sasaki include the Rangers, Yankees, Mets, Cubs and Mariners.
With Sasaki not coming to San Francisco and Verlander’s deal now official, the Giants’ rotation appears all but set. Verlander will join Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks in rounding out a quintet that’s quite talented but has a handful of question marks (Verlander’s age, Ray’s health, Hicks’ workload). In-house depth options with at least some big league experience include Tristan Beck, Hayden Birdsong, Mason Black and Landen Roupp.
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