The San Diego Padres appear to have been eliminated from the ongoing final scramble for Japanese pitcher Loki Sasaki.스포츠토토
"According to multiple sources, the Padres were excluded from the competition for the Sasaki Rockies. They started international contracts with Joan Delacruz and Carlos Alvarez," said Francis Romero, a reporter for the BBWAA (National Baseball Journalists Association) on the 18th (Korea time). "They officially signed a contract with the Dominican Republic left-hander Alvarez with a $1 million signing bonus."
With the absence of San Diego, Sasaki is expected to make a final decision on the LA Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays. Sasaki has to decide whether to sign the contract by 7 a.m. on the 24th, the deadline for the upcoming posting negotiations.
MLB.com quoted Romero as saying, "A few days ago, it was reported that it was compressed into a three-way race between the Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays over Sasaki, and the Padres diverted the money they were trying to spend on Sasaki by signing with international prospects."
All three teams, including the San Diego Padres, are reportedly planning to expand the pool by selling promising players in order to maximize the number of Sasaki`s number of "sineering bonuses," but rather, the San Diego Padres have exhausted the pool. Such a move would be impossible unless the team gives up on Sasaki.
"Sasaki is agonizing between the Dodgers and Toronto as San Diego is virtually out of the competition," MLB.com said. "The Blue Jays will trade with the Cleveland Guardians to receive outfielder Myles Straw, cash, and international sinning bonus pool to expand the bonus pool, and will give one player or cash later. The Blue Jays' bonus pool is 2 million dollars."
As a result, Toronto's international syncing bonus pool has increased to 8,261,600 U.S. dollars. Through such trade, each club is able to expand its bonus pool to 60 percent of the existing level. Dodgers' international syncing bonus pool in 2025 is 5,146,200 dollars. Currently, Toronto can offer 3 million dollars more as a syncing bonus than Dodgers.
It is not clear at the moment whether San Diego gave up Sasaki or not. Another media outlet, Essential Leports, said, "I wonder if the Padres, once considered a strong destination, are excluded from the competition now, or if Sasaki has notified them," adding, "Unless a new team jumps in, the battle for Sasaki has narrowed down to the competition between the two teams."
If Sasaki is excluded, it is interpreted that it is due to the unstable management and financial situation of the San Diego Padres. The San Diego Padres are in a legal dispute with Syl Seidler, the widow of the late former owner Peter Seidler, filing a lawsuit to take control of Peter's brothers Matt and Bob. Local experts say that the future of the San Diego Padres and the mid- to long-term financial situation are unstable.
San Diego was considered a likely destination for Sasaki because of his close relationship with Darvish Yu, his idol, and the capacity of pitcher coach Ruben Nibla to nurture ace pitchers. In addition, the San Diego International Sinning Bonus Pool is about 2 million dollars more expensive than the Dodgers, and it was analyzed that it would have an advantage over Shohei Ohtani's team in advertising contracts. For this reason, chances are high that the unstable situation of the club had a significant impact on the team.