Roki Sasaki of Japan is one of the top available pitchers this offseason but falls under international signing bonus rules, which means his bonus will be far below his true market value. Eugene Hoshiko/Associated Press

Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki has started talking to teams as he determines where to sign when the international amateur signing period begins on Jan. 15. So far, the Boston Red Sox haven’t been part of the conversation.

According to reports, Sasaki has already met with the Mets, Yankees, Cubs and Rangers. Some believe he has also met with the Giants. He is expected to meet with the Dodgers and Padres, two of the favorites to land the 23-year-old right-hander, but he has not done so yet.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told The Boston Globe earlier this week that the Red Sox have not been invited to the negotiating table with Sasaki and do not have a meeting scheduled.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Boston is out. According to a source with knowledge of the process, Sasaki informed teams earlier this month that he may meet with additional teams in January. There is no hard and fast date to start eliminating potential contenders. That strategy will allow him to circle back and add teams to the mix at any point. The initial list of suitors is just a starting point.

Still, it’s not a good sign for the Red Sox that they’re not part of the first round of meetings, especially after Breslow and team of officials made a special scouting trip to watch Sasaki pitch in Japan earlier this year.

Teams like the Red Sox or Phillies, who according to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski have also not been invited to the negotiating table, should be discouraged by the fact other teams are getting an early chance to pitch themselves to Sasaki. As a reminder, money isn’t a major factor in these negotiations, because Sasaki is under 25 and considered an international amateur and is subject to signing bonus pools for minor league contracts usually allocated to 16-year-old Latin American prospects. Teams have amounts ranging from roughly $7.6 million to $4.1 million they can spend, and the Yankees are capped at around $5.3 million.

The Red Sox have shown they are interested. Breslow and a group of Red Sox officials are ready to travel to southern California to meet with Sasaki and his representatives. And Boston, like many other potential Sasaki suitors, has some unique factors to offer — including past success from Japanese pitchers such as Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima, Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara. It’s something Breslow planned to pitch to Sasaki.

“We have a long history of success in making a smooth transition and creating an environment where … Japanese pitchers can thrive,” Breslow said at the Winter Meetings earlier this month. “We have a robust infrastructure and a number of long-tenured support staff — from massage therapists and strength and conditioning coaches to athletic trainers — that I think can help, and I think there’s a meaningful difference between hiring to create the infrastructure in response to a particular pursuit versus having these people embedded in the organization and understanding what a season looks like, have many, many years of experiences, and intimate knowledge of how to help with the transition.

“Specifically, there’s a legacy of Japanese stars who have come over to contribute to World Series championships, whether that’s Daisuke or Koji or Taz and others. So that can be a very valuable recruiting tool, only in so much as they’ve had great experiences here and continue to come back and visit or even make Boston their home (as Matsuzaka has).”

Other preliminary factors didn’t seem to be as encouraging for the Red Sox but haven’t impacted Sasaki’s initial list of meetings. Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, noted that because of the impact of negative media coverage in Japan, a “soft landing” with a small or mid-market team might be beneficial for Sasaki. Of course, the meetings with both New York teams mean he’s willing to listen to at least some teams from big markets. Japanese players are always thought to be more likely to sign with West Coast teams because of the shorter travel time home.

Sasaki is 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.

“This is someone who makes any rotation better the moment they join,” said Breslow. “As we think about pursuing front of the rotation options, I think it makes sense to canvas the entire landscape, and we’ll be as aggressive and as strategic as possible.”