Outside The Confines: Here comes Sasaki

The frenzy about Roki Sasaki has begun and everyone is talking about him. Predictions for the free agent market. And other news from around baseball.

Good morning. The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes is underway.

• Mark Feinsand looks at Sasaki’s situation and which teams are the favorites to sign Sasaki.
• Stephen J. Nesbitt explains the entire process of Sasaki’s posting (The Athletic sub. req.) and how good he might end up being.
• Kiley McDaniel also sums up the Sasaki situation and his MLB potential. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• Eno Sarris breaks down Sasaki’s pitching arsenal and how well it might translate to MLB. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Will Sammon looks at what factors might be crucial in deciding which team signs Sasaki. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• J.J. Cooper points out that whatever team signs Sasaki, they could be eligible to gain an extra draft pick if he wins Rookie of the Year.
• Jack Baer also looks at the market for Sasaki and speculates that the posting system could be changed if Sasaki signs with the Dodgers.
• Sasaki isn’t the only Japanese pitcher to come over. Two-time Sawamura Award winner Tomoyuki Sugano is a free agent and plans to sign with an MLB team. David Adler has what you need to know about Sugano.
• Brian Murphy has five big questions about the offseason.
• Predictions of where free agents will sign from USA Today writers.
• Predictions of who will sign the top free agents from CBS Sports writers.
• Predictions of where the top free agents will sign from MLB dot com.
• Will Sammon and Fabian Ardaya report that free agent outfielder Teoscar Hernández wants to re-sign with the Dodgers (The Athletic sub. req.) but that four other teams are interested.
• Jordan Schusterman looks at the market for Hernández and where he might sign if he doesn’t return to LA.
• Thomas Harrigan argues that left-hander Blake Snell’s free agent market will be a lot stronger this year than it was last.
• Chris Cotillo reports that the Red Sox could be interested in free agent Alex Bregman if he would agree to move to second base.
• Mike Axisa has ten “bold” offseason predictions.
• The Marlins have reportedly decided on Dodgers first-base coach Clayton McCullough to be their new manager.
• The Phillies have named Preston Mattingly as their new general manager under team president Dave Dombrowski. Former GM Sam Fuld left to go to get his MBA and will take over as the Phillies president of business operations in 2026
• David Laurila asks general managers about their philosophies about the number of innings thrown by starting pitchers.
• MLB and the Atlanta Braves have objected to the reorganization plan submitted by Diamond Sports Group.
• And finally, the Premier12 tournament is going on now in Mexico City. What is the Premier12 tournament? Michael Clair explains it all to you. By the way, Cubs prospect Matt Shaw is playing for Team USA and here’s an update.