San Diego struggled in 2023 and then lost Juan Soto and Blake Snell ahead of the 2024 campaign. While this is the case, the Padres clearly still have a lot of talent and ended up winning 93 games.
The Padres pushed the Los Angeles Dodgers in the playoffs but lost to the eventual World Series champions. Now, the Padres need to go back to the drawing board and add a little more pitching.
It sounds like they certainly are trying and the New York Post’s Jon Heyman said the club has a “real shot” at landing 23-year-old phenom Rōki Sasaki.
“Sasaki, I think the Padres have a real shot at Sasak,” Heyman said. “I know a lot of people favored the Dodgers right from the start as I wrote in my column today hoping the Dodgers don’t land Sasaki, (Juan Soto), and (Teoscar Hernández), all three of them. I do believe the Padres are a threat in that case.”
He is just 23 years old and logged a 2.02 career ERA in four professional seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines. He is one of the most intriguing pitching prospects in years and landing him would be fantastic for the Padres. Because of his age, when he ultimately is posted by the Marines he can be signed using a team’s international pool of finances.
In comparison, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was just a few years older last year and landed a historic contract with Los Angeles. Sasaki will be significantly cheaper and it has be said that he has even more upside than Yamamoto.
