The Toronto Blue Jays apparently gave Roki Sasaki incredibly valuable information before he signed in LA
Photo credit: MLB.com
The Toronto Blue Jays were one of the finalist teams to land Roki Sasaki but lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers once again but made sure to give Sasaki some valuable information before he signed in LA.
Many believed that the Blue Jays had a real chance at signing Sasak after reports came out that he had a great meeting with them and was interested in playing in a smaller market than a team like the Dodgers which did not end up being the case.
The Blue Jays gave Roki Sasaki some valuable information before he signed with the Dodgers
The Blue Jays met with Sasaki before he made his final decision and apparently gave his some very valuable information during the meeting regarding his fastball velocity.
According to reports, the Blue Jays told Sasaki that the reason his velocity dropped last year had to do with his mechanics that apparently slightly changed over the 2024 season.
"Toronto impressed Sasaki with its answer to a burning question: Why had his sizzling fastball lost velocity in 2024? The explanation from Frank Herrmann, a Blue Jays baseball operations staffer who had pitched in the big leagues and was Sasaki's teammate with the Chiba Lotte Marines, and Sam Greene, the Blue Jays' assistant pitching coach, blended a discussion of data, mechanics and feel that boosted their pursuit. Sasaki spent multiple days in Toronto, and as he departed, the Blue Jays were confident," Passan wrote.
Despite Sasaki being impressed with that the Blue Jays had to say, it looks like as soon as he left the meeting, the Blue Jays were no longer an option and they basically gave him valuable information before going to play for an opponent.
That confidence evaporated the second Sasaki was out of their sight. While the Blue Jays presentation was impressive, what they essentially did was provide Sasaki with the cheat codes to his own video game before he took said game to his friend's house. -Powell
This was a good idea since the Blue Jays were trying to show Sasaki that they development system is top notch which almost worked but in the end it came to bite them since they gave a talented opponent great information on improving his game.
This seems to have been the story of the Blue Jays off-season until the Anthony Santander signing, coming in second to signing massive free agents.
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