This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo’s Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- Last week in this newsletter, we relayed David Stearns’ comments from the GM Meetings about Roki Sasaki. At the time, Stearns’ complimentary words were more theoretical than anything; Sasaki, a top Japanese pitcher, had not been posted by his Nippon Professional Baseball team. There were no guarantees that he would be.

The situation changed early Saturday morning, when NPB’s Chiba Lotte Marines announced their intention to post Sasaki, freeing him to sign with any Major League organization.

• Who are the favorites to land Roki Sasaki?

Sasaki has a chance to be one of the top pitchers in baseball -- a “unique talent,” as Stearns described him, who “throws 100 with a nasty splitter.” Although his youth and recent injury history make him at least something of a risky asset, he’ll become one of the top free agents on the market the second he’s posted.

I want to use today’s newsletter to explain how we got here … and why Sasaki may or may not sign with the Mets.

How the posting system has changed
A quarter-century ago, MLB and NPB officials created the modern posting system, which allowed MLB teams to acquire talent under NPB control for a compensatory posting fee -- initially, a flat fee based on silent auction-style bids. That was how players like Daisuke Matsuzaka and Yu Darvish earned massive windfalls worth more than $50 million for their NPB clubs.

The system eventually changed so that these days, Japanese players coming stateside can negotiate freely with all 30 MLB teams. Their NPB clubs receive a posting fee based on a percentage of the contract they ultimately sign, rather than a flat fee at the beginning of the process. It was under this system that Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed a 12-year, $325 million deal with the Dodgers last offseason. The leverage game changed, and Japanese players benefited.

Sasaki’s unique situation
The catch is that under MLB rules, free agents younger than 25 must sign amateur contracts. That makes them subject to the international bonus pool, which highly restricts the amount teams can spend on foreign talent -- a rule put into place last decade to prevent big-market clubs from monopolizing the market on teenaged Latin American prospects.

Sasaki is 23, the same age Shohei Ohtani was when he moved from NPB to the Angels after the 2017 season. Under those rules, Ohtani signed for a $2.3 million bonus and became subject to MLB’s arbitration system. Just like any other prospect, he remained under team control for six seasons. (Although Ohtani could have waited two years to come to the US and receive a much larger, Yamamoto-style windfall, he eschewed the money to pursue his MLB dream -- as well as some lucrative endorsement deals that helped make up the difference.)

• Everything you need to know about Sasaki's signing process

Sasaki’s situation is similar. Teams won’t be able to offer him more cash than they have available in their bonus pools, which most clubs have already largely spent for 2024. Those pools reset on Jan. 15, giving the Marines incentive to wait a few weeks before posting Sasaki and starting his 45-day negotiation clock.

Right now, the Dodgers have the most 2024 bonus pool money available at $2.5 million. Various factors determine the size of these pools, but if Sasaki waits to be posted, teams will be able to throw their full 2025 weight at him -- a range of $5.15 to $7.56 million.

So it’s not about the money?
It’s not about the money. If it was, Sasaki would have every reason to wait two years, come to MLB once he turns 25 and potentially earn a contract worth more than 50 times what he’ll get this winter. The fact that he’s coming now is essentially proof that he values other things instead.

Some people will read that sentence and assume it means Sasaki is going to Los Angeles, just as Ohtani and Yamamoto did last offseason. Surely, the Dodgers would be a great destination for any free agent, given their massive Japanese fan base and popularity in that country, as well as their organizational strength and competitiveness. But when Ohtani faced similar circumstances seven years ago, he went to the Angels. Other Japanese players such as Darvish, Seiya Suzuki and Kodai Senga, who are all represented by the same agent as Sasaki, went to the Rangers, Cubs and Mets, respectively.

The fact that Sasaki can only sign a Minor League deal is a great equalizer. If he has an affinity for, say, Seattle or Tampa Bay, there’s little reason why he wouldn’t sign in those places, because the contract offers would be relatively even. Maybe he owns a second home in San Diego. Maybe he has an uncle in Cincinnati. The reality is at this point, we don’t specifically know what Sasaki values.

What about the Mets?
I’ll state it again: the reality is at this point, we don’t specifically know what Sasaki values. What we do know is that because Sasaki won’t command a large bonus, and because he’s likely to sign relatively late in the offseason, the Mets don’t have to center him in their offseason plans. In fact, their best strategy for landing Sasaki will probably be to go out and sign Juan Soto, Pete Alonso and a whole bunch of pitching, announcing with gusto their intention to build a juggernaut.

That sort of spectacle may not be enough to pry Sasaki away from other interested suitors. But it certainly couldn’t hurt.