Roki Sasaki will not sign with the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers or San Francisco Giants

NEW YORK (AP) – The New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants have been told Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki will not sign with them.

Giants general manager Zack Minasian announced during a press conference on Monday introduce Justin Verlander that San Francisco was no longer in contention.

Sasaki’s decision to eliminate the Yankees and Rangers was disclosed to The Associated Press by people familiar with the negotiations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because Sasaki’s intention to sign elsewhere had not been announced. The New York decision was first reported by the Yankees’ YES Network.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres are considered the favorites to sign the 23-year-old right-hander, with the Toronto Blue Jays another option.

Under MLB’s international amateur signing rules and the posting system between Major League Baseball and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, Sasaki can sign with an MLB team in a window starting at 9 a.m. EST Wednesday and ends at 5pm EST on January 23rd.

Because Sasaki is under 25 and has not played six seasons in NPB, he is classified as an international amateur and limited to a minor league contract subject to international signing bonus pools that range from $7,555,500 to $5,146,200. Starting Wednesday, teams can make trades to increase their signing bonus allocation by up to 60% from their original numbers.

Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, has not publicly identified teams being considered. Sasaki is also said to have met with the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs.

Sasaki’s fastball tops 100 mph. He was 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 games last year, striking out 129 batters in 111 innings in a season limited by shoulder inflammation. He has a career record of 29-15 with a 2.10 ERA over four injury-shortened seasons with the Marines.

___

AP Baseball writers Stephen Hawkins and Janie McCauley contributed to this report.

___

AP MLB: