The Los Angeles Dodgers were ultimately the winners of the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes, but as suspected, the San Diego Padres were right on their heels for most of the process.
After receiving interest from at least 20 clubs, Sasaki narrowed down his list to three finalists in the form of the Dodgers, Padres, and Toronto Blue Jays, who came somewhat out of nowhere late in the process. Surprisingly, the Padres were not part of the final two as Sasaki’s decision boiled down to the Dodgers and Blue Jays.
While the Padres lost out on Sasaki, it was not for a lack of trying. San Diego went all in on for the young right-hander, offering him their entire bonus pool that far exceeded what the Dodgers could present, according to Fabian Ardaya, Dennis Lin and others of The Athletic:
The Padres told Sasaki’s group that they were prepared to trade to max out their bonus pool, according to a league source, and offer the Japanese pitcher the entire sum, a little more than $10 million.
The Blue Jays also had the ability to offer Sasaki a bigger contract than the Dodgers, especially after completing a trade with the Cleveland Guardians for an additional $2 million in bonus pool money.
Sasaki ended up turning down both the Padres and Blue Jays, instead choosing the Dodgers’ less lucrative offer of $6.5 million.
The Dodgers impressed Sasaki in other ways, like their star studded second meeting and their answer to why Sasaki’s fastball velocity declined last season.
MLB investigated Roki Sasaki signing process
Amid speculation that the Dodgers and Sasaki had an agreement in place prior to his official decision, an investigation by MLB revealed L.A. followed protocol in their negotiations.
The investigation followed through on comments MLB commissioner Rob Manfred made in November in which he said the league would verify that the Dodgers and Sasaki did not have a premature agreement in place if it became necessary.
MLB included multiple parties in their investigation, and found no wrongdoing from any side, including Sasaki’s NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines.
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