Roki Sasaki's agent, Joel Wolfe, said as many as 20 teams have reached out with interest in the Japanese starting pitcher and that Sasaki is "driving the ship" and "calling the shots" in the free-agent process, per ESPN's Jesse Rogers.

"He's a guy that wants to be great," Wolfe said of Sasaki. "He's not coming here just to be rich... He wants to be one of the greatest, ever. I see that now. And he's articulated it. To be that, he knows he has to challenge himself."

"Seeing (Shota) Imanaga come over and dominate at such a level in the first half, I believe he realized... in order to take it to the next level he had to come here, play against the best players in the world every day and tap into all the resources that MLB teams have to help him become one of the best pitchers in MLB," Wolfe added. "That's what he wants."

Sasaki had a taste of the competition he'll be facing at the MLB level during 2023's World Baseball Classic, appearing in two games and posting a 1-0 record with a 3.52 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 11 strikeouts in 7.2 innings.

He's already proven his dominance in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, registering a 10-5 record in 2024 with a 2.35 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 129 strikeouts in 111 innings (18 games).

The 23-year-old will be able to sign with a team starting on Jan. 15.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the presumed favorites, given the presence of Japanese stars like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto already on the roster, though Sasaki's request to not meet with players during team presentations may undercut that presumption.

The Dodgers are reportredly one of six teams to have held in-person meetings with Sasaki, according to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, joining the New York Mets and Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants.

The San Diego Padres are also among the the favorites to sign him, with reports that he's close with Yu Darvish. And the Seattle Mariners are a team to monitor, as a potential Sasaki addition would seriously bolster one of the best young rotations in the sport.