Happy Roki Sasaki Week!

After announcing his intention to come to MLB at the start of the 2024-25 offseason, the 23-year-old Japanese free agent immediately became the most coveted pitcher available this winter thanks to his combination of talent and age, and the parameters of his contract.

With the 2025 international free agent signing period opening Jan. 15 and Sasaki's posting window closing on Jan. 23, we could find out where Sasaki is headed as soon as Wednesday.

Because Sasaki decided to come to the majors before his 25th birthday, he is limited to a minor league deal with a signing bonus coming from a team's international bonus pool (capped at just over $7.5 million). That makes the emerging ace a rare free agent star every team can afford to sign.

As we wait for Sasaki's destination to come into focus, we asked our MLB experts what makes him so good, which major league pitchers he reminds us of, and which teams seem most likely to land him.

What makes Sasaki such a coveted free agent?

Bradford Doolittle: He's young, accomplished and with measurable tools that might make him baseball's top prospect right now. But he's not a prospect in the "maybe he'll be 'X' if he reaches his ceiling" but one that's already been successful in a high-level league and can slide into a big league rotation. A limited workload threshold, for now, is the only thing that's really holding back Sasaki's 2025 projection. With his full collection of team control seasons intact, there is no risk to signing him. And as good as he is now, he has room to grow in terms of his arsenal and how he fills out physically. You just don't get a combination of factors all lining up like this, not the least of which Sasaki was so anxious to make the jump that he was willing to make max earnings a secondary factor.

Buster Olney: As we've seen with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and with Juan Soto -- as we've witnessed all the way back to Alex Rodriguez -- excellence at a young age is everything. Sasaki is expected to be a high-ceiling talent already at 23, and the team that lands him will have years of control while paying him relative pennies.

Kiley McDaniel: In describing his client's upcoming potential nine-figure deal to me this winter, an agent underlined why he was confident that would happen, even if he had a down year, by saying: "age is a hack." Rosters are getting younger, thus teams have more money to spend, but don't want to offer long-term deals to older players, so they are (generally) seeking short-term free agent deals or trades for players with a year or two of control. That means long-term deals are generally acceptable to a large swath of teams only when they can land a standout young star still in his peak years. (like the Red Sox chasing Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Juan Soto, extending Rafael Devers, but not offering huge money to any older players). Sasaki could be under team control for his entire peak of a bona fide ace, at a price every team can afford: a true unicorn of an opportunity for all 30 teams.

David Schoenfield: He is entering his age-23 season and it's not a stretch to say he has the potential to be the best starter in baseball. In four years in Japan, he has a 2.02 ERA, averaging 11.4 strikeouts per nine. He has hit 102 mph and is 6-foot-3 and athletic. You can argue that he's right up there on the Stephen Strasburg/Paul Skenes scale as a pitching prospect, except he has already dominated as a professional.

Which current or former MLB pitcher does he remind you of on the mound?

Schoenfield: With his power fastball/splitter combo, I think of two former MLB greats: Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling. There are certainly some similarities as well to Shohei Ohtani, although Ohtani slowly ramped down his splitter usage and didn't use it much in 2022-23, going more often to his sweeper. In Japan in 2024, Sasaki induced a 57% whiff rate on his splitter, which would have ranked second in MLB behind Reds (now Yankees) reliever Fernando Cruz.

Doolittle: I don't know that there is any one guy. The splitter kind of reminds me of the one Logan Gilbert throws, one with a spin rate so low it's kind of freaky to watch in slow motion. The easy, heavy, hard stuff he offers kind of reminds me of Kevin Brown, only with a different fastball. The thing that's most exciting about Sasaki is that it's hard to call him the next so-and-so. He's his own thing, and novelty is a great and too-rare thing in sports these days.

McDaniel: There isn't a perfect comp, and Sasaki is still changing as a pitcher, so I'll point out some players with qualities that are similar. Hunter Greene had a similar combination of arm speed and hype at the same age, along with some questions on his fastball shape and breaking ball quality. Obviously, Sasaki's standout splitter has a number of comps to former NPB pitchers but only a handful of U.S.-born players, such as Clemens and Schilling. The total package (power fastball, slider, and splitter-ish offspeed pitch) is similar to Paul Skenes', though Sasaki's command and fourth and fifth pitch are areas he'll need to address to have a chance to truly stand up to Skenes' MLB debut.

Buster Olney: He reminds me of Yu Darvish, with his build and his rangy athleticism. He looks like he'll have an ability to make adjustments, as needed. Darvish is known for being able to mimic the deliveries of other pitchers, and watching Sasaki move, it would not surprise me if he had the same gift.

Are there any concerns about how his game will translate from Japan to MLB?

McDaniel: Sasaki's fastball shape and velocity regressed last season, his slider velocity also tailed off even more, he likely needs to add a fourth and maybe fifth pitch, and his execution within the strike zone could be a bit better. These are all simple enough on their own to be addressed in the first half of 2025 as long as Sasaki chooses a strong pitching development club, as I suspect he will. Some mechanical adjustments and mental cues could do a lot of the heavy lifting as these things can all be related. I would expect to see glimpses of Sasaki's potential in 2025 while we wait until 2026 for the first dominating string of five or six starts in a row.

Olney: We really need our colleague Eduardo Perez to jump in here, because he'd be the one to tell us if Sasaki has any blatant tells such as pitch-tipping. That's what Yamamoto experienced in his first months with the Dodgers. But Sasaki could have such excellent stuff that it doesn't matter. His splitter seems to be so good that it won't be hit even if the batter knows it's coming.

Doolittle: Well, the different ball means we don't know exactly how the measurements on his pitches will change, but that's not a major concern. He looked great in the World Baseball Classic which offers a nice preview of that adjustment. It's really durability. He has never thrown a lot of innings, his best pitch is a splitter and his velo was down last season. These things would be much more worrisome if he was getting a Yamamoto-like contract, but he's not. I've seen his splitter carry an 80-grade and when you match that with a triple-digit fastball that moves and a track record of plus command, health is the only thing there is to worry about.

Schoenfield: The same as every starter: Health and durability. He has topped out at 20 starts and 129 innings in Japan, back in 2022. His fastball velocity was down a bit in 2024 as he missed time with a torn oblique and shoulder fatigue. He'll also have to adjust to facing more power hitters than he faced in Japan.

Are the Dodgers the team to beat as his decision approaches?

Doolittle: They always are.

McDaniel: They are the most likely landing spot and have been seen that way for a while, but don't underrate how little we truly know about Sasaki's process of eliminating and ultimately choosing a club. We have some clues and potential leans, but don't truly know very much right now.

Aryna Sabalenka dances on court, with actress Rebel Wilson watching on, after beginning her Australian Open title defence win with a straight-set victory over American Sloane Stephens.

READ MORE: 'Feels like home' - Sabalenka starts title defence with win

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Coco Gauff dedicated her Australian Open first-round win to Los Angeles and the firefighters who have been tackling the devastating wildfires.

American third seed Gauff, one of the favourites for the title in Melbourne, beat compatriot and 2020 champion Sofia Kenin 6-3 6-3.

Gauff wrote "stay strong LA, thank you firefighters" on the camera lens after her victory.

She and Taylor Fritz have previously donated to a charity effort to help those affected.

World number two Iga Swiatek also signed the camera lens: "Sending my love to Malibu and LA".

The Pole began her Australian Open campaign with a 6-3 6-4 win over Czech Katarina Siniakova.

The fires, which began on 7 January, are being marked as the most destructive in the city's history.

The LA County medical examiner said on Sunday that 24 people have died in the fires, while at least another 16 remain missing.

Donna Vekic, who is coached by American Pam Shriver, also sent a message to the city after her first-round win on Sunday.

Shriver has stayed behind in LA to help her family.

Stefanos Tsitsipas believes his Australian Open first-round exit was "karma" after he withdrew from playing doubles alongside his brother to focus on singles.

The Greek, runner-up in Melbourne in 2023, lost 7-5 6-3 2-6 6-4 to American Alex Michelsen on the second day's play.

The 11th seed had been due to play doubles with his brother, Petros, but withdrew before the tournament began to protect his singles chances.

"It's quite ironic. My whole [idea] was to try to go deep. I knew the first thing I had to consider was not playing doubles," Tsitsipas, 26, said.

"The whole purpose was just to save up on some energy and be fresher hopefully in the deeper draw of the tournament."

"I guess karma hit me. I was not able to deliver or play the way I was hoping to at this year's event.

Tsitsipas has long-been tipped as a future Grand Slam champion, having reached the Melbourne showpiece two years ago and the French Open final in 2021, losing both to Novak Djokovic.

However, he lost in the first round at last year's US Open and in the second round at Wimbledon.

"The most frustrating part about losing in the first round of a Grand Slam is that you have way too much time to recover," Tsitsipas added.

"It just sucks that I'll be hanging around for quite a while now before my next tournament comes in."

Elsewhere at Melbourne Park, world number one Jannik Sinner opened up his title defence with a 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 victory over Chile's Nicolas Jarry.

Novak Djokovic begins his bid for a standalone record 25th Grand Slam singles title later on Monday, with Nick Kyrgios also making his return to tennis.

With her powerful groundstrokes and strong first serve, Burrage had too many weapons for 149th-ranked Jeanjean in a performance which oozed confidence.

The British number seven played aggressively, doing particular damage with her forehand as she hit 23 winners.

After securing victory on her first match point with a huge net cord, Burrage instantly covered her face with her hands.

The British fans in the crowd roared their appreciation before Burrage returned to her chair and spent a few moments sobbing under a towel.

Burrage said afterwards she had struggled to eat breakfast because of pre-match nerves.

"All of those emotions from the last nine months I think were bottled up in there," she said.

"I think because I know I have been playing some good tennis, I know what such a good opportunity today was.

"I knew the hard work that went in for the last year."

Burrage first thought about quitting the sport in 2020 after a series of injuries, but fought back to enjoy the biggest successes of her career.

A maiden Grand Slam win came at Wimbledon in 2023 and led to an unforgettable appearance on Centre Court in the second round, while she also won in the first round of that year's US Open.

Burrage was sitting at a career-high 84th in the world when her progress was derailed again.

In February, she needed surgery on a snapped tendon in her wrist - the fourth operation of her career - and she suffered another blow in April when preparing to return to competitive action.

Burrage ruptured an ankle ligament in a practice session with British number one Katie Boulter and, although she did not require surgery, she missed another 10 weeks.

Having made her comeback on the lower-tier ITF Futures Tour, she broke down in tears during a training session and questioned whether it was worth the hardship.

However, she persevered, and has now become the first Briton to win in this year's Australian Open singles.

There was no Premier League fixtures as the FA Cup took center-stage in England this weekend, with Manchester United's thrilling shootout win over Arsenal stealing the headlines.

The Bundesliga returned with a bang, while Atletico Madrid quietly sealed Spain's "Winter Champions" crown in Barcelona's and Real Madrid's absence.

On the goals front, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Julián Álvarez both scored sumptuous strikes, and Omar Marmoush sparkled with a number of Manchester City scouts watching on.

Sam Marsden, Luis Miguel Echegaray and Constantin Eckner take a look at what you might have missed this weekend.

FA Cup

Top takeaway: Man United slowly learning the Amorim way

The iconic third round of the FA Cup is mostly known for Cinderella stories that pit lower-league hopefuls against more illustrious opposition. And we did see some of them over the weekend, notably with some League One clubs winning against opponents from the Championship. But if we're sticking to Disney movies, this weekend's main headline was less Cinderella and more Brave, because that was exactly what 10-man Manchester United was against Arsenal on Sunday, winning on penalties with guts and resiliency at the Emirates.

Arsenal missed many chances and once again rued the fact they don't have enough quality up front. To make matters worse, striker Gabriel Jesus had to come off on a stretcher after clashing with Bruno Fernandes in the first half. But again, you have to hand it to Manchester United, who are slowly starting to provide the demands of Ruben Amorim's philosophy, which requires undisputed commitment. And that's exactly what happened after the Red Devils were forced to play with 10 men after Diogo Dalot received his second yellow card in the 61st minute. It was a heroic, collective performance, especially from their goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, who was magnificent, making save after save, including a penalty stop in the shootout.

The victory places Man United in the next round at home against Leicester City but, most importantly, it concludes a seven-day period that also included a draw against Liverpool. The continued sentiment remains: there needs to be consistency, but credit is deserved for a hard-fought win.

Best match: Brentford 0-1 Plymouth Argyle

This is less about aesthetics, more about outcome, what the result means to the winner and, to be honest, everything that the FA Cup is all about. Plymouth Argyle -- bottom of the Championship and winless in 11 games prior to this weekend -- delivered an inspiring 1-0 victory against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium. The goal was scored by Morgan Whittaker, ironically once reportedly linked with a move to the Bees.

Plymouth had fired Wayne Rooney on New Year's Eve and announced Miron Muslic as their new boss, but he didn't take charge of Saturday's game. So every Plymouth player probably saw it as a great opportunity to impress and press the reset button.

It was a gutsy performance, especially because Thomas Frank's side seldom lose at their home ground. But again, this was all about the narrative and how in football, you can never underestimate anything. For Brentford? Even though Frank rotated his team with six changes and didn't start Bryan Mbeumo or Yoane Wissa, it was not good enough. It's clear this competition is not their priority, but still, you have to play better than this as a Premier League side.

What's Plymouth's reward in the next round? A home game against Liverpool.

Best goal: Trent Alexander-Arnold vs. Accrington Stanley

Given all the rhetoric regarding Alexander-Arnold's future, coupled with his poor performance against Manchester United, the past week has not been easy for the 26-year-old right-back. So, he needed a good game in this competition, even if it was against League Two's Accrington Stanley. And he delivered. His goal was quintessential TAA. A beautiful effort from outside the box, where Stanley's goalkeeper Billy Crellin -- on loan from Everton -- could only act as a spectator. He didn't even move.

"Accrington Stanley? Who are they?" Exactly, thought TAA.

MVP of the weekend: Tamworth

Man United keeper Bayindir is clearly the individual that deserves much praise here, but I am giving the award to the non-league side, who fought valiantly against Tottenham Hotspur. They lost 3-0, but the result flattered Spurs because for 100 minutes, the club from Andy Peaks' National League -- playing against the likes of James Maddison, Brennan Johnson and Son Heung-Min -- took the Premier League team to extra time.

The extra time was the main reason Spurs won. Tamworth simply got tired, and Ange Postecoglou was able to introduce Dejan Kulusevski and the aforementioned Son in the latter stages. Against a bunch of semi-pros, calling on that kind of depth was simply too much. This is the first season of the FA Cup where there are no replays so it's a shame Tamworth suffered as a result of it as it was 0-0 after 90 minutes. But, regardless, they won my MVP vote. -- Echegaray

LaLiga

Top takeaway: Atlético Madrid crowned Spain's 'Winter Champions'

Atlético Madrid took full advantage of Real Madrid and Barcelona playing the Spanish Supercopa this weekend to climb to the top of LaLiga at the halfway stage. Alvarez's second-half goal was enough for them to beat Osasuna 1-0 on Sunday as they extended their winning streak in all competitions to 14 matches.

That impressive run has included eight straight victories in LaLiga as they have hunted down Madrid and Barça. After 19 league games, Diego Simeone's side have lost just once and are one point clear of Madrid and six ahead of Barça -- who they trailed by 10 points at the start of November.

That has earned them the tag of "Winter Champions" -- given to the league leaders in Spain after the first round of fixtures have been completed -- and firmly cemented their title credentials. They have twice pipped Madrid and Barça to the title previously under Simeone, in 2014 and 2021, and look increasingly capable of doing so again this season.

Best match: Sevilla 1-1 Valencia

Luis Rioja's second-half strike looked set to give bottom placed Valencia a much-needed three points at Sevilla. However, after surrendering a lead to Real Madrid last week, they did the same against Sevilla late on. Adrià Pedrosa's 93rd-minute strike wasn't dealt with by Giorgi Mamardashvili and Sevilla stole a point that showed new Valencia coach Carlos Corberán the scale of the task facing him.

Best goal: Julián Alvarez vs. Osasuna

A beautifully worked corner routine sealed Atlético's three points. Antoine Griezmann's short corner was worked back to him and his far post cross was headed back to the unmarked Alvarez to fire home his 13th goal of the campaign.

MVP of the weekend: Joan García (Espanyol)

It was two points dropped for Espanyol as they stayed in the bottom three after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to relegation rivals Leganés. However, it would have been much worse if not for goalkeeper García. He made five saves in total as Leganés racked up an xG of 1.99 in Barcelona on Saturday. They could not find a way past García, though, who was wanted by Arsenal last summer and will have a huge role to play if Espanyol are to stay up. -- Marsden

Bundesliga

Top takeaway: Flu outbreak and traffic jams lead to odd restart

After the customary winter break, the Bundesliga was set to resume with a blockbuster clash as Borussia Dortmund hosted reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen on Friday. However, the match unfolded under extraordinary circumstances. In the days leading up to the game, Dortmund were rocked by a flu outbreak that decimated their defensive ranks, leaving them without the majority of their backline.

This isn't the first time football has been hit by viral issues in recent weeks. Tottenham, for instance, recently contended with a sickness bug.

BVB manager Nuri Şahin was forced to field a makeshift back four, with full-back Julian Ryerson and Yannik Lührs, a regular for Dortmund's reserve team in the third division, in the middle. While emergency lineups are sometimes able to write Cinderella stories, Dortmund were outgunned by Leverkusen's firing power, losing 3-2 at home.

But that wasn't the only odd thing concerning the game. The kick off was delayed due to heavy traffic on the roads leading to Signal Iduna Park. You might suspect only fans were held up and in danger of arriving late. But even midfield standout Florian Wirtz and Exequiel Palacios were stuck on a bridge in Cologne long enough to miss the team meeting. Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso subsequently benched both players. The Spaniard said afterwards that he didn't want to select anyone in the starting XI who wasn't aware of tactical details.

This goes to show that millionaire footballers are only humans, too. They can catch the flu or get stuck in traffic just like countless commuters every day.

Best match: SC Freiburg 3-2 Holstein Kiel

Freiburg continue to be a genuine force at home, with 19 of their 27 points coming at their Europa-Park-Stadion. However, Saturday's win over relegation-threatened Holstein Kiel was suddenly in danger during the final minutes. Kiel striker Phil Harres scored twice in the final five minutes, but the visitors ran out of time to snatch a draw.

Best goal: Frans Krätzig vs. Union Berlin

In Steffen Baumgart's debut as Union Berlin manager, it was another debutant who captured the headlines. Krätzig joined Heidenheim on loan from Bayern Munich in early January and needed only 17 minutes to score a fantastic goal to provide a 1-0 lead against struggling Union. In the lead-up to the goal, Heidenheim broke through on the right side and Léo Scienza found Krätzig in the middle, who fired the ball directly into the left corner of the net.

MVP of the weekend: Omar Marmoush (Eintracht Frankfurt)

There may have been other players who put on better performances than Frankfurt's highly-rated 25-year-old striker. Considering the latest rumours about a potential move to Manchester City, it was impressive how Marmoush performed against St. Pauli, including scoring the only goal of the game. -- Eckner

What else you missed this weekend

AC Milan continue their slump in Serie A

The week started beautifully for AC Milan, who came back from two goals down to win the SuperCoppa Italiana against their bitter rivals Internazionale on Monday. But on Saturday, the league issues continued as the Rossoneri drew 1-1 at home against Cagliari. It was the third draw in the last four league matches as Milan now find themselves in eighth place with 28 points, 16 behind league leaders Napoli.

It was the league and home debut for their new manager Sérgio Conceição and he did not hold back in the post-match interview.

"I expected a lot more on every level," said the Portuguese manager to Sky Italia. "I have been a coach for 13 years and weighing up the quality of this squad against what I saw, that was the weakest first half since I started coaching."

Milan and Christian Pulisic -- who has been personally shining this season -- took 24 shots against Cagliari but only had Álvaro Morata's goal to show for it. The visitors, who are fighting relegation, equalized four minutes after the Spanish striker's goal in the 51st minute.

Milan have to do better in the league because otherwise, they can forget about Europe. -- Echegaray

Ajax Amsterdam closing in on PSV Eindhoven

We could have a title race on our hands in the Netherlands after all.

Luuk de Jong scored a brace as PSV twice came from behind against AZ Alkmaar to muster a 2-2 draw at home. It's the second time in three games the Eredivisie champions have dropped points.

Their slump in form comes just as Ajax seem to be finding some momentum. Francesco Farioli's side beat RKC Waalwijk 2-1 to make it three wins in a row, cutting what was a nine-point gap down to just four. -- Marsden

Sporting lose Taça da Liga final to Benfica

Another tough break for Sporting CP. Following Amorim's departure to Man United in November, the defending Portuguese champions slumped under interim manager João Pereira -- who was removed from his post after little more than a month and replaced by Rui Borges.

Borges left Guimarães around Christmas to coach Sporting. In his first game in charge in late December, Borges and Sporting won the derby against Benfica. Sporting, however, could not reproduce the result in another meeting with Benfica on Saturday in the final of the Taça da Liga, a cup competition for teams in the top two tiers of Portuguese football.

Benfica opened the scoring in the 29th minute, with Ángel Di María assisting Andreas Schjelderup to dance past defender Eduardo Quaresma and score. Sporting equalized shortly before half-time thanks to a Viktor Gyökeres spot kick. The game was eventually decided in a penalty shootout, where the first 13 were successfully converted, before Francisco Trincão's attempt was saved by Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.

It's the 86th trophy in Benfica's history, tied with FC Porto. The debate over which club has won the most silverware has been a controversial topic for many years, because of Benfica's Supertaça de Portugal win in 1980 when the competition was not an officially recognized competition. -- Eckner