Rangers Rumors: Texas emerges as Roki Sasaki frontrunner out of nowhere

With much of the attention focused on the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees and New York Mets, one might have overlooked another team mentioned as an "obvious front-runner" for Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki: the Texas Rangers.

According to a new report from The Athletic (subscription required), the Rangers can't be counted out as the Sasaki sweepstakes come to a head in coming weeks. Texas met with Sasaki and his team in December, but GM Chris Young declined to comment further on any details.

Young scouted Sasaki personally in a visit to Japan last September and it's clear Texas is very serious in their pursuit of the 23-year-old. The Rangers re-signed veteran Nathan Eovaldi earlier this offseason to headline the rotation, but slotting Sasaki into a mix that also features Jacob deGrom, Jon Gray, Tyler Mahle and Cody Bradford would dramatically raise the floor for the group.

With money largely being a non-factor in the equation given limitations on international free agent spending, the Rangers can, more or less, be on equal footing with the big market behemoths in New York and California. The state of Texas also offers obvious tax benefits (no state income tax), which could potentially factor into the decision.

But Sasaki has made it clear by making the move to MLB two years early, and thus severely limiting his earning potential, that it's not about money. Had he waited until he was 25, he could have secured a contract comparable to the 12-year, $325 million deal Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers last winter.

The American League West feels more up for grabs than it has in years after the Houston Astros traded Kyle Tucker and are poised to lose Alex Bregman in free agency. Meanwhile, the Rangers re-signed Eovaldi, re-assembled a bullpen that lost multiple pieces at year's end, and bolstered an already stout lineup with the additions of Jake Burger and Joc Pederson.

And let's not forget. It was this same Texas Rangers team that made a huge splash more than a decade ago, signing Yu Darvish out of Japan on a six-year, $60 million deal. This is an organization that's long had a strong international presence and scoring the prize of the offseason in Sasaki would be an exclamation point on an already strong offseason and a move that could set the Rangers up in the rotation for years to come.