The Los Angeles Dodgers have already added Blake Snell to their rotation this offseason, but they are incredibly motivated to further bolster the group by pursuing Roki Sasaki, who was officially posted this week.
The Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) officially posting Sasaki means he is now free to begin meeting and negotiating with MLB teams. The Dodgers and San Diego Padres are currently seen as the two favorites to sign Sasaki.
This is the moment the Dodgers have been waiting for as they have been preparing themselves for this eventuality for some time now. The 23-year-old is making his way to MLB after four seasons in the NPB in which he had a 2.10 ERA and 505 strikeouts in 394.2 innings. Sasaki was also a two-time All-Star.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman believes that Sasaki has an extremely high ceiling due to the drive and talent he possesses, according to Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic:
“He’s incredibly talented,” Friedman said. “Really physical. Incredible carrying fastball. His split’s a well-above-average major-league pitch. He’s worked hard on a slider, and it’s a really good pitch. He has talked about his desire to be the best pitcher in the world, and we believe that he is capable of being the best pitcher in the world.”
This belief in Sasaki is why the Dodgers are making him a ‘major priority’ in free agency.
If the Dodgers are able to come to an agreement with Sasaki, he would be the second pitcher they have signed directly from the NPB in as many years. Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers is the richest for a pitcher in MLB history.
But Sasaki’s contract with whichever team he ends up choosing will not be remotely close to that as he is classified as an amateur international free agent, and thus is subject to the rules that limit how much he can earn on this first deal.
Roki Sasaki signing deadline
Sasaki has until Jan. 23, 2025 to make his decision on which MLB team to sign with, or else he will be returned to the Marines.
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