Sasaki met with ‘set few’ of 20 interested teams
-
Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
The initial list of major league teams that expressed interest in Roki Sasaki stretched to 20, his agent, Joel Wolfe of Wasserman Group, said Monday.
Sasaki, the uber-talented young starting pitcher, will join one of those teams at some point in the second half of January and is currently back home in Japan pondering the second phase of his highly scrutinized recruiting process.
Wolfe did not provide many specifics during a conference call with the media, only to state that Sasaki met with “a set few number of teams” over these past few weeks and will make his decision at some point between Jan. 15, when the new international signing period opens, and Jan. 23, when Sasaki’s posting window closes.
Market size, living dynamics and even pedigree won’t be the foremost priority.
“He doesn’t seem to look at it in the typical way that other players do,” Wolfe said. “He has a more long-term, global view of things. I believe Roki is also very interested in the pitching development and how a team is going to help him get better, both in the near future and over the course of his career. He didn’t seem overly concerned about whether a team had Japanese players on their team or not, which, in the past, when I represented Japanese players, that was sometimes an issue. That was never a topic of discussion.”
At 23, Sasaki is already one of the world’s best pitchers, possessing a triple-digit fastball and a devastating splitter. With the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball over the past four seasons, Sasaki posted a 2.10 ERA with 505 strikeouts against just 88 walks in 394⅔ innings. Because he would be classified as an international amateur — meaning he would cost teams their international bonus pools and essentially sign a minor league contract, unable to become a traditional free agent until accruing six years of major league service time — the bidding for his services was expected to be fierce.
Wolfe experienced that at the start of Sasaki’s 45-day posting window on Dec. 15, shortly after sending a letter to every team asking them to send information if they were interested. Within days, recruiting pitches flooded his offices.
“While the quality and the uniqueness varied, it was really something,” Wolfe said. “The level of preparation, the videos — I mean it was like the Roki film festival. There were highly in-depth PowerPoint presentations, short films. Some teams made actual books. They had people that had clearly spent hundreds of hours researching Roki and his personal background, his professional background.”
Various reports have listed the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants among the teams that were granted initial meetings. And though there has been a lot of speculation that the bidding for Sasaki could come down to the Dodgers and Padres, Wolfe said it was important to his client that everyone operate “on a level playing field,” prompting specific demands for those initial meetings: that they all last within two hours and take place at Wasserman’s L.A. offices. Sasaki stressed that current players not attend, though some sent their pitches over video.
“I think that the teams that met with him would tell you he was engaged, he asked questions — and he gave every team something that he called a homework assignment, the team that he was going to meet with,” Wolfe said. “And I think it was a great opportunity for the teams to really show what they specialize in. Without giving the actual details of what that assignment was, every team got that very same assignment, and it enabled them to show how they can analyze and communicate information with him and really showed where he was coming from in analyzing and creating his selection criteria in looking at teams.”
Sasaki’s next step has yet to be fully formed. It could involve tacking on a small handful of additional meetings or, more likely whittling his list. Visiting certain cities as part of his final decision-making process is also possible.
At the moment, Wolfe said, Sasaki isn’t expected to pick a team when the new international signing period opens on Jan. 15. Though Wolfe did not note this specifically, utilizing the additional eight days would allow teams to trade for additional international bonus pool money that would essentially act as Sasaki’s signing bonus. International bonus pools for 2025 range from about $5.1 million to $7.5 million, but teams can trade for up to an additional 60%.
Had Sasaki waited two more years to turn 25, he could have instead signed a nine-figure contract similar to what Yoshinobu Yamamoto attained from the Dodgers last offseason. Instead, he followed in the footsteps of Shohei Ohtani, an international amateur when he joined the Los Angeles Angels in December of 2017. Wolfe believes being around Ohtani and Yu Darvish during the World Baseball Classic in 2023 and watching Shota Imanaga dominate with the Cubs as a rookie in 2024 pushed Sasaki to challenge himself sooner.
The sooner he could face the world’s best hitters and utilize major league resources, the better it would make him.
“Roki is by no means a finished product,” Wolfe said. “He knows it, and the teams know it. He’s incredibly talented; we all know that. But he is a guy that wants to be great. He’s not coming here just to be rich or get a huge contract. He wants to be great. He wants to be one of the greatest ever. I see that now, and he’s articulated it. And to be that, he knows he has to challenge himself.”
-
Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe and linebacker Jihaad Campbell each declared for the NFL draft Thursday.
Milroe, a redshirt junior and Alabama’s starter the past two years, announced the news via an Instagram post. He thanked Nick Saban, Kalen DeBoer and his teammates, among others.
“To the entire Alabama family, thank you for embracing a kid from Texas and allowing me the honor of wearing the script ‘A.’ Representing this university has been one of the greatest honors of my life ” Milroe wrote.
Milroe finished sixth in Heisman Trophy balloting a year ago and played an integral role in Alabama winning the SEC championship and getting to the College Football Playoff.
But he had an up-and-down 2024 season, passing for 2,844 yards and 16 touchdowns but also throwing 11 interceptions. A dynamic running threat, Milroe led Alabama with 726 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns, ranking second nationally among quarterbacks. His 33 career rushing touchdowns is tied for eighth in Alabama history.
Off the field this season, Milroe was the recipient of the William V. Campbell Trophy, commonly known as the academic Heisman.
Milroe is ranked as the No. 3 quarterback prospect for the 2025 NFL draft by ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.
Campbell led the Tide in total tackles (117), sacks (5) and tackles for loss (11.5) this season, while adding two forced fumbles, an interception and a fumble recovery.
“These last three years in Tuscaloosa have molded me into a better player and a better man,” Campbell said as part of an Instagram post. “And this experience has been special and something that I will never forget.
“I feel like I am ready now to take the next step in my career.”
A first-team All-SEC selection and a Butkus Award semifinalist, Campbell ranks No. 20 on Kiper’s latest Big Board for the draft. Kiper ranks Campbell as the No. 2 draft-eligible off-ball linebacker, behind Georgia‘s Jalon Walker.
Campbell led Alabama with 11 tackles in Tuesday’s ReliaQuest Bowl loss to Michigan. The New Jersey native became a starter in 2023 and finished third on the team with 66 tackles.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg contributed to this report.
-
Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff Writer
South Carolina beat in-state rivals Clemson and other finalists Colorado, Ole Miss and Tennessee to the pledge of four-star wide receiver Donovan Murph, the top remaining uncommitted skill position player in the 2025 class.
Murph announced his decision Thursday afternoon on ESPN2 during the 2025 Under Armour All-America Game in DeLand, Florida, leading the cast of top high school prospects who made verbal commitments at the annual high school football showcase.
A 6-foot-2 pass catcher from Columbia, South Carolina, Murph is the No. 182 prospect in the 2025 ESPN 300 and entered Thursday as the No. 2 uncommitted prospect in the 2025 cycle. With his pledge, Murph becomes the sixth ESPN 300 prospect to join a 2025 Gamecocks recruiting class that began Thursday at No. 23 in ESPN’s team rankings for the cycle.
“South Carolina was the school that stayed consistent with me,” Murph told ESPN. “All fall they were showing me love and letting me know they believed in my talent. That played a big role in my recruitment.”
Murph lands with South Carolina after catching 96 passes for 1,328 and 12 touchdowns in his final season at Irmo (South Carolina) High School, and joins a deep Gamecocks wide receiver class in the 2025 cycle. Along with Murph’s pledge, South Carolina holds signatures from fellow top-300 pass catchers Jordon Gidron (No. 129 overall), Malik Clark (No. 178) and Lex Cyrus (No. 292). Four-star wide receiver Brian Rowe and three-star pass catcher Jayden Sellers also signed with the program during last month’s early signing period.
Initially a member of the Class of 2026, Murph took unofficial visits to Ohio State, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama during the fall before announcing his intention to reclassify into the 2025 cycle on Oct. 1. Murph’s decision to enter college early attracted significant Power 4 interest in the final months of 2024, but ESPN’s No. 22 wide receiver prospect limited his official visits in November to South Carolina and Clemson before Murph returned for an unofficial visit with the Tigers on the final weekend of the college football regular season.
The pair of in-state powers battled hard for the No. 4 overall prospect in the state of South Carolina, and Murph pointed to the Gamecocks’ rising trajectory as a key factor in his decision. South Carolina reached nine wins for the first time since 2017 this fall, emerging as a dark-horse College Football Playoff contender behind breakout star quarterback LaNorris Sellers in coach Shane Beamer’s fourth season in charge of the program.
“I like the direction they’re heading in,” he said. “They’re trending up. They continue to get better and better. I think I can add to that and be a playmaker who makes an impact early.”
For the first time in the 17-year history of the Under Armour All-America Game, team rosters for the 2025 showcase event included high school juniors. Among the Class of 2026 prospect who made up roughly 30% of the player pool, several followed Murph with commitment announcements on Thursday, still 11 months from the 2026 early signing period.
The most high-profile of those decisions came from four-star defensive end JaReylan McCoy (No. 94 in the ESPN 300), who announced his pledge to LSU during the fourth quarter of the all-star game, picking the Tigers over USC, Tennessee and Alabama.
McCoy is ESPN’s No. 9 defensive end prospect in the 2026 cycle and has logged 140-plus tackles and 18.5 sacks in three seasons at Tupelo (Mississippi) High School, where he was a key member of a team that finished 14-0 team on its way to a Class 7A state title this fall.
McCoy now stands as the top-ranked prospect in a 2026 LSU recruiting class that holds pledges from three other top-300 pledges from in-state defenders Aiden Hall (No. 108 in the ESPN Junior 300), Jakai Anderson (No. 152) and Richard Anderson (No. 171).
McCoy told ESPN that he remains undecided on taking visits to other schools in 2025, but emphasized that the timing of his commitment was part of a plan to find a home early in the cycle in favor of a quieter recruiting process. While USC pushed hardest in the final days of McCoy’s recruitment, he credited Tigers defensive line coach Bo Davis and a handful of unofficial visits to the program as two elements that ultimately helped pull his commitment to LSU.
“I felt ready to lock in with somebody so I can play for my family in my senior year,” McCoy said. “It’s a new year — this was the right time to slow down my recruitment and the right time to pick my new family.”
Earlier Thursday, four-star 2026 wide receiver Carnell Warren (No. 203 in the ESPN Junior 300) announced his commitment to Virginia Tech, landing with the Hokies over Georgia Tech, Duke and Wake Forest.
The 6-foot-4 pass catcher from Bluffton, South Carolina, caught 58 passes for 846 yards and 14 touchdowns during his junior season this fall and joins four-star quarterback Peyton Falzone (No. 200 in the ESPN Junior 300) as the second member of Virginia Tech’s 2026 class. The pair of top-300 commits represent a strong start for the Hokies in the upcoming cycle, and Warren referenced his connections with coach Brent Pry and Virginia Tech assistants Fontel Mines and Stu Holt as prominent forces in his decision.
“The relationships I have there were important,” he said. “Everything that’s going on at Virginia Tech and the bond that I’ve built with them over the last couple of months was something I couldn’t break. I knew Virginia Tech as the place.”
Three-star 2026 cornerback J.J. Dunnigan of Manhattan, Kansas rounded out the series of 2026 pledges on Thursday with his commitment to Kansas over Kansas State, Nebraska, Stanford. The top-ranked member of the Jayhawks’ 2026 class, Dunningan wrapped an impressive week of practice performances in Orlando with a fourth-quarter interception in Thursday’s game.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports9 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway