Rays keeping fingers crossed that AL East Roki Sasaki finalist loses sweepstakes

The No. 1 international prospect and arguably the second most talked about player throughout this offseason has been the electric Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki. His weapons on the mound will instantly bring a huge boost to any major league rotation. As we near his decision, which has a deadline of January 23rd, there are three teams in the running. The Dodgers, Padres, and Blue Jays still have a chance to sign this generational ace and we really hope he turns away from Toronto.

The Toronto Blue Jays had an unusually rough 2024 season as they finished last in the AL East with a 74-88 record. However, the talent on this roster is undeniable and they recently added Platinum Glove winner Andres Gimenez and All-Star reliever Jeff Hoffman.

The addition of Roki Sasaki would be the icing on the cake for their offseason and would put them in a fabulous position to compete in 2025. Their starting rotation would go from one of the bottom two in the division to probably second-best behind the New York Yankees.

They would have Kevin Gausman and Roki Sasaki at the front-end with former Twins ace Jose Berrios as a very respectable No. 3 option. Despite Chris Bassitt's recent struggles, he was still a 2021 All-Star and he's finished three seasons in the top 10 in Cy Young voting. Any club would take the 35-year old as their No. 4 starter. This rotation would look extremely deep all of a sudden.

Now, what does this look like for the Rays? It would be easy to say that they must move on with "business as usual" and ultimately this is true. When Gerrit Cole signed with the Yankees in 2019, the Rays didn't uproot their organization and change their philosophy. At the end of the day, the Rays will have to find ways to beat their Canadian rivals, despite facing Sasaki multiple times.

On the bright side, the Rays have a solid history against Toronto as they are 254-210 against the club in their franchise's history. Even more importantly, their record against the Blue Jays since 2020 is 43-31. Hopefully, even if they acquire Roki Sasaki, the Rays will continue their success against this divisional foe.