While the White Sox made it clear they would make a pitch to Roki Sasaki, the Dodgers, Padres and Cubs have emerged as the favorites to sign the Japanese ace.

Even though the 23-year-old Japanese phenom pitcher has already started meeting with MLB teams since getting posted by his NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, earlier this month, Craig Breslow confirmed to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier that Boston has yet to have a sit down with Sasaki and his camp.

The Red Sox have already landed two big prizes in the free agent market, but it looks like it would take a minor miracle for them to land a third.

Roki Sasaki's agent, Joel Wolfe, said as many as 20 teams have reached out with interest in the Japanese starting pitcher and that Sasaki is "driving

Sasaki has the benefit of being able to take his time, with at least two more weeks of meetings and recruitments to go before he can put pen to paper. In that time, it seems like the Red Sox will need him to reverse course to be strongly considered.

Joel Wolfe, the agent for Roki Sasaki, provided an update on the status of the 23-year-old Japanese star’s free-agent meetings with interested teams.

That, of course, is start Japanese righthander Roki Sasaki, who was posted Dec. 9 by his NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines. That opened a 45-day window in which Sasaki can negotiate with MLB teams, who can only sign him as an international amateur,

The Japanese baseball prodigy is making bold moves to become one of the top pitchers in Major League Baseball.

Japanese free agent pitcher Roki Sasaki reportedly requested that no team include any of their own players in the recruiting visits for him, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Currently, Sasaki is back in Japan with his family,