A.J. Preller’s pursuit of Roki Sasaki, the standout prize of this offseason, may have unofficially started in the middle of the summer. On June 6, Padres pitcher Yu Darvish was placed on the restricted list to handle a personal family matter.

Every team would like to land Sasaki. Can his relationship with Darvish, and Darvish's admiration of Preller, give the Padres an edge?

Pitcher Roki Sasaki is the next star to make the jump from Japan to Major League Baseball. With Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto starring for the champion Los Angeles Dodgers, smart money is on Sasaki heading to Hollywood.