We haven't heard much connection between the Seattle Mariners and Roki Sasaki's free agent market this offseason, but former major league reliever Trevor May th

Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team Chiba Lotte Marines confirmed on Sunday that phenom pitcher Roki Sasaki will be posted to the MLB soon. About Sasaki: Observers previously speculated that Sasaki may join Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the Los Angeles Dodgers roster.

Sasaki, only 23, has been a standout pitching star for the Chiba Lotte Marines, in the Japan Pacific League. It is widely believed Chiba Lotte will make Sasaki available to MLB clubs. However, the timing of the “posting” remains unclear. Sasaki is 6-2, 187 pounds.

Roki Sasaki is younger, bigger and throws harder than Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Every MLB team will have a shot to acquire him once he's posted, but is he the Dodgers' to lose?

Sasaki, 23, is the No. 3 ranked player on The Athletic's top 40 MLB free agent big board, behind only Juan Soto and Corbin Burnes.

Unlike other high profile Japanese players, Sasaki will take less money by signing a minor league contract at age 23, betting on himself in hopes of a huge payday later.

The circumstantial evidence supports, but by no means proves such a conclusion. The Dodgers appear to be a fit for Sasaki for multiple reasons, from their track record of developing pitchers to their employment of two other past Japanese phenoms in Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

The word “phenom” has been thrown out plenty with 23-year-old right-hander Roki Sasaki and understandably so. After breaking Shohei Ohtani’s Japanese high school fastball velocity record by touching 101 mph with his heater,