The San Francisco Giants have already made a push into the international world, signing Jung Hoo Lee in the offseason. Unfortunately, Lee was injured early in the season and will miss the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
It was a step in the right direction for the Giants, who need all the help they can get in terms of free agents. In recent years, San Francisco has lost many of the best free agents in baseball.
The reason for this is unclear, but this organization has missed numerous opportunities.
That may not be the case going forward. As the Giants have found out, they need more talent on this roster. There are veterans on this team that can play at a high level and help the team win when they are in good shape, but overall they could use some help.
There may be no better option in the world than potential free agent Roki Sasaki. The right-hander has some of the best qualities in baseball worldwide and, according to ESPN's Kiley McDaniel, he can only sign a $7 million contract.
It would be similar to Shohei Otani, as a team would essentially sign him for free even though he is one of the better players in Major League Baseball.
“If Sasaki comes here this winter, he would be limited to the international bonus pools, like Shohei Ohtani was when he signed for $2.3 million before the 2018 season.
“This means that Sasaki could get a bonus of about $7 million at most (and no guaranteed money from the major leagues). Since money probably won't be the most important factor in his team selection, he may have to settle for just a few million, depending on which club he chooses and how many deals they have already made.”
San Francisco will have to deal with a lot of difficult decisions in the offseason, but if the Giants can sign a player of Sasaki's caliber at such a low price, it's a no-brainer. Of course, he has to want to play in San Francisco, but there should be interest.
The Giants are a storied organization, so this should sell itself. At some point they have to make up for the missed free agents, and there's no better way to do that than by signing the Japanese star.
