Roki Sasaki had a dream growing up: to make it to America and play in MLB. After a lot of effort and years of waiting, he has been officially posted to MLB by his Nippon Professional Baseball team, the Chiba Lotte Mariners. Now teams were chasing him, even before he was posted, as far as going to Japan to seek him. So now that he is posted, of course, teams are lining up for him.

And why not? Not only is he being compared to being a pitcher as good as, if not better than, LA Dodgers Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but he is also an international amateur free agent. This means he won’t cost an arm and a leg like Yamamoto’s $325 million contract. The teams most interested are the New York Yankees and New York Mets, but also a favorite of Japanese players, the LA Dodgers. However, as they fight for Sasaki’s attention, there is a team that can slyly whisk him away—the Chicago Cubs! And they have an advantage too, actually two.

Chicago Cubs can steal away Roki Sasaki

Now Joel Wolfe, Sasaki’s agent, was asked about a potential landing spot or choice of Sasaki. He mentioned that Sasaki is better off joining a small to medium-market team. The reason? The Japanese star has had a bitter experience with the Japanese media over the years and might need a more chilled-out spot. And the Chicago Cubs, while a big-market team too, don’t garner such a type of media attention as the Yankees, Mets, or Dodgers. They get a point here for sure. But that’s not all.

If you thought the Dodgers were the only team to have ‘the Japan favorites’ team tag, you’d be wrong. The Chicago Cubs are also a formidable team with players from the country. They have two players, Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga, who the Cubs signed for $53 million in the club. Jed Hoyer, Cubs president of baseball operations, in fact, thinks Suzuki and Imanaga could be a huge advantage in the Sasaki sweepstakes: “Seiya and Shota have had really good experiences. I think we’re an appealing destination for any Japanese player,” he said to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com.

During the last week of the MLB winter meetings, Hoyer revealed that the team has already sent in their pitch for Sasaki’s consideration. Hoyer didn’t delve into details but said, “Over the years, we’ve had a lot of Japanese players who have enjoyed positive experiences in Chicago.” Well, it remains to be seen where the Japanese star ends up, but the Chicago Cubs sure do seem to have a good advantage.

Yankees and Mets lock horns again

For the second time this off-season, the Yankees and Mets are locked in a high-stakes showdown for a prized free agent again. This time it’s Roki Sasaki. The New York Mets are confident, and after signing Juan Soto, even more so. They were the first MLB team to meet Sasaki on Thursday. Back in September, David Stearns’s team, who were to meet with Sasaki on Thursday, had gone to Japan to scout Sasaki firsthand.

However, the New York Yankees struck back and arranged their face-to-face meeting with Sasaki too in Los Angeles. The best part—the same day the Mets made their case to the Japanese pitcher, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Now Cashman laid all the groundwork with a virtual presentation that helped secure the sit-down.

It’s been reported that Roki Sasaki will join a team with strong ties to Japanese players and a legacy of success, plus a knack for developing pitchers. Now with that in mind, the Yankees have an advantage as Hideki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki, and Masahiro Tanaka, who is Sasaki’s idol, all were Yankees. So they seem to have an advantage.

It seems like every major team is trying their best. Where do you think he will end up? Let us know in the comments.