Many are starting to compare free agent promising young Japanese ace Roki Sasaki to three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani. Technically, Sasaki was an international free agent like Ohtani and was also under 23 when he took over in November 2017, so he had to abide by international contract rules.
But MLB analyst Dallas Braden says Ohtani’s MLB career has set such a unique precedent that comparing him to compatriot Sasaki may not be entirely fair. The analyst made his case on Thursday’s episode of the podcast “Baseball is Dead,” hosted by Jared Karabis.
“Sasaki won’t be able to do that,” Braden said (27:30). “If something were to happen to him, he wouldn’t just play DH on Team “That’s why things like this don’t happen.” Don’t compare him, he’s unique.
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Dallas Braden talks about his thoughts on Aki Sasaki’s early transfer to the major leagues
Another point of contention regarding Aki Sasaki is that if he had waited two more years until he turned 25, he could have gotten a contract similar to his compatriot Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s (a 12-year deal worth $325 million). That means no. However, Dallas Braden believed he made the right decision and insisted that it was better to come here and get injured than to stay in NPB and potentially get injured.
“So people ask, ‘Isn’t that scary? “I think that means they’re willing to sign players for several years as they recover from injuries,” Braden said.
“But then you’d be asking, ‘Do you want to play out a two-year contract knowing you already have one year left due to injury?'” Hundreds of millions of dollars left to go. Instead of waiting two years, Sasaki could be saying, “No, I want to start my legacy now, and it has to start here.” ”
In the end, Aki Sasaki’s decision to join MLB may come down to starting his legend sooner rather than waiting for the perfect moment.
Editor: nagpaltusharn25
