Reese Kaplan -- Jim Bowden Offers Up 9 Point List to Get Sasaki

Every now and then baseball influencers and executives actually do provide some key information that other teams need to hear and react accordingly.  In today’s case it is baseball professional executive Jim Bowden who has done a little bit of everything from GM role to broadcaster offering up some information about what it will take to sign Roki Sasaki to his first American contract.  The list contains nine points many of which seem to parallel some of the strengths of the New York Mets.  I’ll highlight what Bowden said and then offer up a quick analysis on how the Mets meet each of the criteria.

1. The major league team’s chances of winning in the short and long term — It would seem that the Mets having come within 2 games of making it to the World Series in 2024 would count on the short term side.  For long term the club is in the process of transitioning away from some veterans who are not performing at their best anymore to make room for additional younger players.
2. Strength of the farm system for promoting players and/or acquiring players via trades — The Mets farm system has vastly improved over where it has been in the past though the jury is still out on how well some of the higher rated prospects will fare when they reach the majors.  Still, it seems the team is on point here.
3. Financial resources to be competitive at all levels — A look at the Juan Soto contract ought to be a crystal clear answer here
4. The pitching room, including the veteran pitchers on their staffs. As well as the pitching coaches that he’d work with. Also, the plan they have in place for him to get better right away — Apparently word has filtered out that Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner made quite an impression on Sasaki and his agent. 
5. The analytics and technology the organization will make available to maximize his talents — The new pitching lab would seem to be an example of how the club is looking to help pitchers become even better than they already are.
6. Geography. Selling the home city, from its culture to restaurants to communities to the ballpark to the club’s spring training home — Here the New York Mets (and Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers) all have a relatively easy sell given how large their home environments are and the multitude of cultural resources available to newly crowned multi-millionaires.
7. The translators and support staff the team will provide to help him on and off the field — Given the scandal around Shoehei Ohtani’s translator gambling away his boss’ money and the impression current Met Kodai Senga has about his team, the Mets would seem to fare well here.
8. Getting a few of the team leaders to attend a recruiting meeting with the owner, general manager, manager, and pitching coaches — Now here it is interesting.  While Juan Soto might be the big fish in the pond, he is a newcomer.  What the Mets need to do here is to integrate current multi-year players like Francisco Lindor and Edwin Diaz to help reinforce what the front office and Carlos Mendoza do for the presentation to Sasaki’s representative team.  Bringing in David Wright in this regard would help as well.
9. Demonstrating how the organization functions as a family and how they’ll take care of his family — Just dredge up the recent headlines about how the Yankees treated Juan Soto’s family to reinforce how different the Mets are in this regard. 

While there is no guarantee that Roki Sasaki will come to the Mets, it would seem they are ahead of the Yankees in Bowden’s highlighted list and even have the one non-club scandal with a Dodger translator for their biggest star.  I don’t expect the Mets to land Sasaki but it’s nice to know there was no struggling with this list.