Latest update on top-tier free agent should aid Yankees as potential fit | Sporting News

The New York Yankees may have gotten good news about Japanese sensation Roki Sasaki.

The young right-hander is back in Japan with family mulling over his next move after meeting with an undisclosed number of MLB teams before the holidays.

His agent Joel Wolfe told SNYs Andy Martino that Sasaki is not considering media market sizes in his decision.

Market size isnt a factor either way, Wolfe said on Monday evening in a text to Martino.

Previously, Wolfe had indicated that Sasaki would probably want to stay away from the bigger media markets.

I think theres an argument to be made that a small- or mid-market team might be more beneficial for him, as a soft landing, coming from Japan and what hes been through and not having an enjoyable experience with the media it might be, Wolfe had said at the Winter Meetings.

In other good news for the Yankees, in a Zoom call with reporters on Dec.

30, Wolfe mentioned that a teams pitching programs will be a big factor in his decision.

The program under pitching coach Matt Blake with Gerrit Cole leading a collaborative group has been among the best in the league.

Wolfe said 20 teams presented Sasaki with recruiting pitches, all meetings with team officials took place in the Los Angeles offices of his agents and he asked that no players attend the meetings.

The Yankees have already met with Sasaki .

Several other teams have as well.

Wolfe said that he may meet with one or two more teams when he returns.

With Sasaki being just 23 years old, he must be signed under MLBs international bonus pool rules.

Those are the same rules that are usually used to regulate the signing of 16-year-old players from Latin America.

Japanese stars usually wait until they are 25 so they are exempt from those rules and can maximize their free-agent money.

That means the allotted money that any team can pay Sasaki is around $7.5 million and it eliminates any financial edge for the Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, or any team.

More MLB: MLBs oddest injuries include former Yankee slugger.

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