Fresh off winning the Juan Soto sweepstakes, the Mets have entered into the Roki Sasaki chase.
The Mets met with the Japanese phenom in Los Angeles on Thursday, The Post confirmed, becoming the first known team to visit in-person with Sasaki during the free-agency process.
SNY first reported the development.
The Yankees also have been granted an in-person visit with Sasaki, GM Brian Cashman acknowledged Wednesday, and plan to visit “soon” with the 23-year-old and agent Joel Wolfe.
The Mets and Yankees are the only clubs whose meetings have become public thus far.
Every team was invited to submit a virtual presentation, and Sasaki then was expected to host get-togethers with the clubs that progressed to Round 2.
Little is known about the Mets’ meeting.
Little is known about how many teams will meet with Sasaki. Little is known about what Sasaki will be prioritizing in selecting his team.
More is known about the enormous interest of all 30 MLB clubs.
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns traveled to Japan in September to watch Sasaki pitch.
“We’re going to give it our best shot,” Stearns said at last week’s Winter Meetings. “It’s very difficult in these processes to truly understand what a player’s preference is. This isn’t a normal free-agent recruitment process.”
For the first time since Shohei Ohtani made his way to MLB ahead of the 2018 season, a hyped international free agent for Major League Baseball can only be won through coaxing and not by contract.
Because he is not 25, Sasaki is being handled as an amateur, international free agent who is restricted to a team’s international bonus pool money.
A potential ace can only sign a minor league contract (but undoubtedly will be added to the major league roster) and only will be eligible for a few million dollars.
Without Steve Cohen’s wallet at play, the Mets would have to find other ways to attract Sasaki.
Maybe he wants to pair with fellow Japanese star Kodai Senga at the top of the rotation.
Maybe he has heard positive reviews from pitchers who have worked with a Mets pitching infrastructure led by Jeremy Hefner.
Maybe he sees the Mets, who have landed Soto after reaching the NLCS, as a team on the rise.
The reigning World Series champion Dodgers, who boast Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, have been seen as the favorites.
Delivering insights on all things Amazin’s
Sign up for Inside the Mets by Mike Puma, exclusively on Sports+
Thank you
The Padres are believed to be in contention in part because Sasaki is close with Yu Darvish.
Not much else is known about the contenders for the right-hander.
Wolfe has said that Sasaki has paid attention to teams’ “overall success,” track record with Japanese players and history of developing pitchers.
Wolfe also suggested that Sasaki — who had negative experiences with Japanese media — might prefer a smaller market.
Many Japanese players prefer the West Coast, but Sasaki’s preferences are unknown.
Sasaki can sign with a team as early as Jan. 15, when the international signing period opens.
The Mets already have around $5 million (of a $6.2 million pool) verbally committed to 17-year-old Dominican infielder Elian Peña.
They can trade for additional international free-agency money, but Sasaki choosing the Mets could lead to reneging on previous agreements.
That would be a problem the Mets would welcome.
They look strong for 2025 but lack an arm at the top of a rotation that includes Senga, Frankie Montas, David Peterson and Clay Holmes.
Among the back-end candidates are Tylor Megill, Griffin Canning, Paul Blackburn and Jose Butto.
Sasaki, whose fastball hits triple digits and whose splitter is regarded as among the best in the world, pitched to a 2.10 ERA with 505 strikeouts in 394 ²/₃ innings in NPB and, though somewhat raw, would project as an ace.
