Quote from lafnboy13 on January 15, 2025, 7:29 am

Quote from Jeremy Hill on January 15, 2025, 6:59 am

I'm just ready for it to be over one way or another. Sasaki's decision is the last thing I can see as a catalyst for AJ to make some moves. End this off-season of nothingness. I hope he makes his choice quickly. It seems like it may drag on a bit longer yet.

I'm watching to see if we sign anyone else today. If we do, then it's an indicator Sasaki is out.

Quote from fenn68 on January 15, 2025, 7:35 am

did see the speculation that one reason that may support the delay in a Sasaki decision is giving the teams the opportunity to make trades for additional pool money to up  the bonus for Sasaki. Does not fit the earlier narrative that money is not the key in his decision (and the differences are not that great in the big picture) BUT if he is OK with either LAD or SD then maybe money is the decider.

SD has a starting point about a million greater than LA but LA has better trade chips (I think) to add to that ... so another unknown.

IF Preller wants (needs) to add to the pool ... not sure who he deals and what he could get in pool money from some team. I guess it needs to be pitching ....

 

Quote from MrPadre19 on January 15, 2025, 1:41 pm

I've been hoping to see AJ make a trade or two for Int. pool money as a sign.

Hasn't happened....yet....but neither has L.A.

I could see him having already made up his mind and his Agent asking the team to try to add to his $$ via trade.

It's not actual money the other team has to trade either....they get a player and only have to give up the "right" to spend that money.

So you're not trading Dylan Cease for additional money....could trade "expendable" prospects I'm sure.

Some teams don't intend to spend their allotment anyway

 

 

Quote from fenn68 on January 15, 2025, 2:29 pm

I appreciate Sasaki and his agent taking a course of action that best serves their ends ... and if that means take some "extra" days so be it.

However, the delay in making the decision is really a disservice to LA, SD, and TOR by putting a hold on their signing top international FA given the uncertainty of funds available. Maybe most (or some) who had handshake agreements will hang on until the decision before considering jumping to a new team (although think at least 2 LAD targets move on to new teams). At the same time the "better FA" who command bigger bonus might get squeezed out if other teams move ahead and spend on other players ... maybe leaving less for the prospect or forcing the prospect to a team he may not prefer.

After an extended time meeting with clubs an last weekend again with the three finalists ... and presumably a structure of the important factors ... not sure why extra time in needed.

Quote from lafnboy13 on January 15, 2025, 2:45 pm

Quote from fenn68 on January 15, 2025, 2:29 pm

I appreciate Sasaki and his agent taking a course of action that best serves their ends ... and if that means take some "extra" days so be it.

However, the delay in making the decision is really a disservice to LA, SD, and TOR by putting a hold on their signing top international FA given the uncertainty of funds available. Maybe most (or some) who had handshake agreements will hang on until the decision before considering jumping to a new team (although think at least 2 LAD targets move on to new teams). At the same time the "better FA" who command bigger bonus might get squeezed out if other teams move ahead and spend on other players ... maybe leaving less for the prospect or forcing the prospect to a team he may not prefer.

After an extended time meeting with clubs an last weekend again with the three finalists ... and presumably a structure of the important factors ... not sure why extra time in needed.

He's had more than a month to figure this out. I really don't understand the hold up.

Quote from MrPadre19 on January 15, 2025, 8:10 pm

The only way this situation isn’t BS is if he truly hasn’t made up his mind yet and I’m not sure how to feel about that

Quote from Jeremy Hill on January 15, 2025, 11:20 pm

I can't really fault Sasaki for taking more time and potentially asking whichever team he chooses to trade for extra pool money to give him the maximum possible amount. As much as his decision has shown it's not all about the money for him he can get an extra 3-4 million by doing so. I've also seen some speculation that he could do it out of respect for his Japanese team. They likely would have been in line for a pretty massive payday had he followed the typical path. He can help them get little bit more even if it's a relative pittance compared to what they would have gotten down the line. He's got a big decision to make and I'm sure he has a lot to consider. I don't blame him for taking his time. It's just unfortunate that it's intertwined with the ridiculous nature of the international amateur system.

Quote from fenn68 on January 16, 2025, 4:40 am

I guess Sasaki's camp has set into motion a "bidding war" on the trade front to get more international bonus money between the Padres and the Dodgers.

Adds need to be in increments of $250K up to 60% of the initial allocation ... so, in theory, the Padres could add about $3.5MM (going up to $9.7MM pool) and the LAD could add $3MM (going up to $8.2MM pool). However, is there in reality $6,5MM available for trade? Given the other teams know the competition for adding pool money ... they will demand a better than historical return for the trade. Even higher if the Padres and Dodgers are fighting over the same dollars from a smaller pool. Padres do have a built-in advantage by $1MM to start ... so that is good, maybe.

Given the prize in Sasaki ... and if money is the decider ... both teams should be motivated to trade some quality talent to get that bonus money ... especially at the presumed level needed to win the bid. If that plays out with both teams ... not a big issue for the winner of the bidding but feel a bit sorry for the loser (especially if it is the Padres) who would have traded system talent for nothing (beyond losing Sasaki).

One concern ... the Padres had a $1MM advantage over the LAD and likely offered more money than LAD ... so IF Sasaki preferred the Padres with any conviction, that should have sealed the deal. Just the fact that they set a bidding war for more pool money suggests he may actually be leaning to the Dodgers and is just trying to get more money from them.

I hope the "losing team" has a strong back-up plan to sign other international FA ... especially if they traded for more pool money. Probably have a number of players holding on decisions on who they sign with pending the Sasaki decision ... probably with a commitment from the Padres / Dodgers grater than what they are being offered by other reams. Sloppy situation.

Quote from MrPadre19 on January 16, 2025, 4:58 am

On the positive sign he didn't sign yesterday while he was in LA.

But,sounds like it's still a  toss up for him and I was hoping he had already chose SD and was just "going through the motions" to make it appear there was no deal already in place.

Any chance other GM's around the league would "help us" get him?

Prefer giving us their $?

Can't imagine SF wants Roki in LA.

Probably no other team "wants" that to happen.