Overview
- Sasaki announced Sunday that he will sign with the Miami Marlins and will forgo beginning his professional career with Japan’s Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
- The Marlins drafted Sasaki in the eighth round (235th overall) of MLB’s 2026 amateur draft while the Hawks took him in the first round of NPB’s draft, leaving him to weigh parallel signing windows and a July 27 MLB deadline.
- MLB reporting placed his eighth-round slot value at about $239,200 and Marlins officials said the team respects his difficult, deliberate choice to pursue a U.S. path.
- Sasaki is Japan’s all-time high school home run leader with 140 homers and after two seasons at Stanford he hit .262 with 16 home runs, a background that drew interest from both leagues.
- His move could shift how elite Japanese players approach the pro ladder by underlining college-to-MLB as a viable route and will put pressure on the Marlins’ development staff to oversee his transition to U.S. professional baseball.