Executives From Four MLB Teams Scouted Next Japanese Star in Person: Report [Video]

If Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman was jet-lagged from his most recent trip to Japan, he hid it well during a press conference at Dodger Stadium on Thursday.

“How was Roki?” one reporter asked

“Pitched well,” was Friedman’s concise reply.

The secret has been out for months: the most coveted pitcher on the free agent market this winter might not reside in North America. If 22-year-old right-hander Roki Sasaki is allowed to leave Japan by his current team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, he is sure to fetch more demand than any domestic free-agent pitcher in Major League Baseball.

There might be no better proof of the demand for Sasaki’s services than the recent deluge of scouting trips made by top MLB executives.

As noted by Francys Romero, Friedman’s trip across the Pacific was just one of many in recent weeks. The New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, and Arizona Diamondbacks all sent emissaries to Japan to see Sasaki in …