A legal spat needn’t spell trouble for the prospect of Sasaki-mania arising in San Diego.
As the Padres have recruited Japanese ace pitcher Roki Sasaki in anticipation of a decision that could come as soon as Wednesday, team officials no doubt addressed with Sasaki’s team the legal dispute that went public last week among a few Padres shareholders attempting to gain control of the franchise.
The 97-page legal complaint filed as a “last resort” by Sheel Seidler, the widow of the former Padres chairman Peter Seidler, added a complication to the team’s attempts to persuade Sasaki, 23, to choose the Padres as his employer for the next six seasons.
Though the legal dispute may be an inconvenience, said a prominent baseball agent who spoke with the Union-Tribune in return for anonymity, it can be addressed contractually. The Padres and Sasaki’s team could agree to contractual safeguards that would allow the pitcher to become a free agent if certain circumstances arose during the six years.
“Sasaki has a lot of leverage,” the agent said. “He can ask for outs in his contract.”
The agent said two specific outs might make sense: If there’s a change in Padres team ownership or the job status of president of baseball operations A.J. Preller, the contractual out would be triggered. Then Sasaki could bid his services out to the other 29 teams.
He’s got so much leverage, he can try to get reassurances,” the agent said. “Not every player can.”
Preller is under contract through at least the 2026 season, as is CEO Erik Greupner, per extensions Peter Seidler issued them in February 2021. It’s possible subsequent extensions have been issued but kept private, as happened for several months with one of Preller’s two extensions.
There’s precedent when it comes to these kinds of opt-outs.
When Rays vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman left the club to join the Dodgers a decade ago, manager Joe Maddon became a free agent. The skipper had a contractual out and took it, leaving Tampa Bay for a job with the Cubs.
The agent said it would be bad form to seek an opt-out tied to Padres player payrolls staying above a certain level. Setting payroll, he said, is too far outside of a player’s responsibility to broach the topic.
Sasaki has met twice with the Padres and put them among his finalists, along with the Dodgers and the Blue Jays. Among the many Padres leaders who took an interest years ago in Sasaki was Seidler, Preller said at the Celebration of Life ceremony for the late chairman in March.
Last month, a Padres group visited with the pitcher and his team in Greater Los Angeles at his agent’s office. Last week, the two camps met in San Diego.
Sasaki’s decision may not come down to what teams present to him in their sales pitches or a franchise’s connections to Japan, but it seems helpful that Preller traded for and extended the contract of pitcher Yu Darvish, 38, who made a successful move from Japan’s top league to MLB and is close with Sasaki.
A legal dispute among Padres shareholders going public isn’t the first curveball thrown Preller’s way across his decade-plus tenure with the Padres. In fact, Preller has done some of his best work when faced with unusual challenges.
Early in his Padres tenure, Preller signed free-agent pitcher James Shields to a bloated contract that cost the Padres a first-round draft pick. He then pulled off his best trade, sending Shields to the White Sox and getting minor-leaguer Fernando Tatis Jr. in return.
Preller had perhaps his best offseason and season after Eric Kutsenda, Seidler’s interim successor as chairman and control person, mandated a payroll cut of about $90 million.
The 2024 Padres won 93 games and a playoff series despite dropping from third to 15th in MLB payroll.
Signing Sasaki would give the Padres a pitcher whose fastball has rare speed and rise. The right-hander throws three other MLB-level pitches including an A+ splitter. For all six seasons, he would cost far less in salary than an established frontline starter commands. In addition, the star would generate substantial revenues via commercial deals with businesses tied to Japan.
Whether or not Sasaki chooses the Padres, it’s a credit to Peter Seidler and Preller that the Padres stand among the pitcher’s three finalists.