Rintaro Sasaki announces his intention to join the Marlins: Forging a new path is both his mission and destiny.

According to the Asahi Shimbun, Rintaro Sasaki, dressed in a suit, held a press conference today in his hometown of Hanamaki, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, officially announcing that he will sign with the Miami Marlins of MLB to start his professional baseball career in the United States. He stated that forging a new path is his mission and destiny. Sasaki was selected by the Marlins in the 8th round, 235th overall, of this year's MLB draft and is expected to travel to the United States soon to finalize the contract.

Rintaro Sasaki graduated from Hanamaki Higashi High School in Iwate Prefecture, making him a junior alumnus of Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, whose high school coach was Sasaki's father, Hiroshi Sasaki. During his high school career, Sasaki hit a total of 140 home runs. After graduation, he moved to the United States to attend Stanford University, which gave him eligibility for both the Japanese and American professional baseball drafts. Last year, he was selected as the first-round pick by both the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) draft, with SoftBank ultimately securing negotiation rights.

Sasaki's signing bonus has not yet been determined. The SoftBank Hawks, who selected him as their first-round pick in last year's NPB draft, are expected to offer a maximum of 100 million yen as a signing bonus, plus up to 50 million yen in performance incentives. Meanwhile, the slot value for the 235th overall pick in this year's MLB draft is $239,200. However, the Marlins gave college pitcher Kaiden Wilson, selected in the 9th round last year, a signing bonus 3.3 times the slot value for that pick, which may indicate that the Marlins are willing to offer more competitive compensation for promising prospects.

At the press conference, Sasaki acknowledged that his abilities are still lacking, but he said he does not want to regret not trying, even if this path ultimately proves to be a failure. "I hope to judge my life not by success or failure, but by whether I had the courage to take on a challenge," he stated. Earlier this month, Sasaki met with SoftBank Hawks executives, who showed great sincerity, even offering to reserve the team's iconic No. 1 jersey for him. It is widely speculated that SoftBank's salary offer was likely more generous.

When asked about the reason for ultimately choosing the Marlins, Sasaki explained, "I was very hesitant until the very last moment, but my desire to challenge myself in the United States since I was young eventually outweighed other considerations." He described it as an extremely difficult decision and, with tears in his eyes at the press conference, thanked the SoftBank Hawks for their interest.

Sasaki has repeatedly expressed his admiration for his fellow Hanamaki Higashi High School alumni, Yusei Kikuchi and Shohei Ohtani, and stated that achieving success in MLB is his ultimate goal. He revealed that he has informed both seniors of his decision. Kikuchi told him, "When Rintaro makes it to the majors, I'll still be working hard in the majors too." Ohtani also encouraged him, saying, "Let's do our best together."

Sasaki ultimately did not follow the traditional path of joining NPB first before challenging MLB, instead deciding to start directly from the minor league system in the MLB organization. At the press conference, he said, "I have finally reached the starting line. The future holds a tough world for me, but I believe that forging a new path is my mission and my destiny. I will give my all in the United States. I will remember that forging a new path is Rintaro Sasaki's mission and destiny, and I will continue to work hard in America."

It is worth noting that Rintaro Sasaki is not the first Japanese player to go to the United States to attend college after high school and eventually enter the major leagues through the draft. Riku Nishida, from Osaka, went to the U.S. after graduating from Tohoku High School and attended the University of Oregon. He was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 11th round of the 2023 draft and made his MLB debut this year.

Sasaki's negotiation deadline with the Marlins is 5:00 PM Eastern Time on the 27th, while the deadline for signing with the SoftBank Hawks is the end of this month. Additionally, he still has the option to remain in college and continue his studies.