Iolani alum Shane Sasaki signs with Rays


Two-time All-Hawaii outfielder Shane Sasaki signed Tuesday with the Tampa Bay Rays.

It was first reported by MLB.com's Jim Callis that Sasaki signed for $475, 000.  The third-round draft pick, the 99th player taken overall, was slotted at $587,400. The deal, which went through his agent, was an agreed upon figure before he was actually drafted, the recent Iolani graduate said. This is a normal practice in the draft. 

The signing deadline is Friday. A freak mishap delayed Sasaki's signing about three weeks because he was recovering from a collapsed lung that sent him to the hospital. He said it happened when he was hiking a day before he was to leave for Florida originally on June 10.  

"I was just walking," Sasaki said in a phone interview from Port Charlotte, Florida, site of the Rays' Gulf Coast League affiliate for rookies. "I think it was just the change of altitude."

Sasaki said he can perform normal functions of a baseball player, except for heavy weight lifting for now. 

Sasaki, a center fielder, led the state with a .565 batting average in Division I. He scored 26 runs, drove in 26. He had five doubles, three triples and five home runs with eight stolen bases for the Raiders.

The GCL opened June 24 and ends Aug. 31. Sasaki is in the same league, but different division from Iolani classmate Micah Yonamine, who is with the Philadelphia Phillies' affiliate. They are not scheduled to play each other.

Signing bonuses for the rest of Hawaii-drafted players, according to Baseball America's database.

Dylan Thomas, University of Hawaii, $100,000

Edgar Barclay, Cal State Bakersfield via St. Joseph, $125,000

Codie Paiva, Loyola Marymount via Kamehameha, $2,500

Micah Yonamine, Iolani, $280,000

Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa, Pierce JC via Baldwin, $125,000



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].