Massive Roki Sasaki Update: Which Teams Are Still in the Running After Mass Eliminations?

After tons of speculation, Monday finally brought some real news in the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes.

Sasaki, a 23-year-old Japanese pitcher who must sign with a Major League Baseball club before Jan. 23, has reportedly eliminated four potential suitors who he had at least one meeting with in the past month.

Now, there are at least four teams remaining.

On Monday, San Francisco Giants general manager Zack Minasian told reporters that his team was informed Sasaki would not be joining them. Shortly thereafter, reports circulated that both the New York Yankees and New York Mets were out of the running for Sasaki, too.

Most recently, it was reported that the Texas Rangers would not be signing the pitching phenom, leaving just four teams who were known to meet with Sasaki still in the running: The Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, and Chicago Cubs.

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The Dodgers and Padres have long been considered the favorites for Sasaki, but the Blue Jays appear to be making a strong push.

The Athletic reported on Monday that both the Padres and Blue Jays received second meetings with Sasaki in their respective cities. It has not been reported whether the Dodgers or Cubs had those opportunities, but there's still time as Sasaki narrows his list.

"The timeline for Round 2 is going to lead right up until he signs," his agent Joel Wolfe recently said. "We're still talking and having Zoom calls. So I don't have a precise timeline for that, like we did for the meetings. Teams will be notified at some point if there's going to be additional meetings or travel or something like that. But other than that, I don't believe there's going to be any specific timeline."

Sasaki is expected to sign sometime after Wednesday, Jan. 15, when the next international signing period begins and teams have replenished international bonus pools. However, he must sign by Jan. 23, when his 45-day posting window expires.

While the Dodgers, Padres, Blue Jays, and Cubs are the four known teams to be in on Sasaki, it's always possible there are other teams involved.

Reports circulated last week of a "mystery team" that met with Sasaki. The Seattle Mariners, who are known for their pitching development, have been considered a potential dark horse in the sweepstakes. It's possible other teams impressed Sasaki in their initial presentations, too, as Wolfe said 20 teams reached out before the meetings took place.

Sasaki is just 23 years old, so he's only allowed to sign for a team's international bonus pool as an amateur international free agent.

He's widely considered one of the best pitching prospects in the world, as he has a career 2.10 ERA with 505 strikeouts across 394.2 innings in his career in Nippon Professional Baseball.

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Update: The three finalists are the Dodgers, Padres, and Blue Jays, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.