The Los Angeles Dodgers added onto what’s been a successful offseason and past year when Roki Sasaki announced his signing decision on Instagram.
The Dodgers were the favorites among teams in pursuit of the 23-year-old but the outcome angered some who believe there was backdoor agreements in place. Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe of Wasserman Media Group, vehemently denied that being the case when discussing his client’s posting process earlier this offseason.
According to Jack Harris of the L.A. Times, MLB investigated the Dodgers and Sasaki prior to approving his posting:
According to a league official, MLB conducted an investigation prior to authorizing Sasaki’s posting to “ensure the protocol agreement had been followed.” Another person with knowledge of the situation, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly, said the league interviewed “numerous parties” in its probe, but found no evidence to substantiate the rumors.
In November, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the league would launch an investigation if it was necessary in order to rule out the Dodgers and Sasaki reaching a premature agreement.
Ironically, each international signing period is rife of handshake deals being made official on the first day players are eligible to sign.
The Dodgers had been scouting Sasaki for multiple years, and for president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, he was about as special as they come. All 30 teams had an opportunity to sign the phenom, yet only 20 of them submitted a preliminary proposal.
When Sasaki narrowed the field down to a group of finalists that also included the Toronto Blue Jays and San Diego Padres, the Dodgers seemingly were the best match after an exhaustive process.
Sasaki and the Dodgers ultimately agreed on a $6.5 million signing bonus, more than $2 million less than what the Blue Jays were set to offer. But the pitch to land the prized right-hander was more than money.
What makes Dodgers the right fit for Roki Sasaki?
The Dodgers plan to head into the 2025 regular season with a six-man rotation in mind, that alone keeps Sasaki on the same schedule he pitched on while in Nippon Professional Baseball. Also, the defending World Series champions are a profoundly rich franchise in scouting and player development.
Sasaki has the potential to be the best version of himself with the Dodgers, as their ability to pinpoint a player’s top features is second to none.
Another perk is being teammates with Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. And in the case of Yamamoto, who played an instrumental role in the signing, the Dodgers now have two of the most prized pitchers to ever come out of NPB in one starting rotation.
Friedman maintained a stance that doing whatever it took to sign Sasaki was his intention. That notion rang true when the Dodgers had to acquire more international bonus pool money to solidify the deal.
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