The opportunity cost of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ pursuit of Roki Sasaki has continued to grow over the past few days as the 2025 international signing period approached.
Darrell Morel was the first to change his commitment, choosing instead to sign with the Pittsburg Pirates.
That was followed up by Orlando Patiño choosing to change his commitment to the Chicago White Sox.
With the international signing period open as of Wednesday morning, both players are set to receive a larger signing bonus than they negotiated with the Dodgers.
In addition to Morel and Patiño, the Dodgers also lost a commitment from Teilon Serrano as he too received a larger bonus upon signing with the Minnesota Twins, according to baseball insider Francys Romero:
Dominican SS Teilon Serrano is set to sign today with the Minnesota Twins for approximately $1M, sources confirmed.
Serrano withdrew from his agreement with the Dodgers 48 hours ago and returned to the market before landing with the Twins. @longenhagen 1st
— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) January 15, 2025
Serrano is the top teenaged international free agent in this class, but the Dodgers’ chances of signing him did not look promising once he removed mention of the team from his Instagram bio.
It is no surprise that the Dodgers’ attention has been elsewhere, as they have been otherwise occupied with their pursuit of Sasaki. Especially this week as they became one of the three finalists for Sasaki and secured a second meeting with the right-hander.
Dodgers asking prospects to wait for 2026 international signing period
As the Sasaki saga reaches the final stages, the Dodgers have reportedly asked their remaining 2025 commits to consider signing with the team in next year’s class.
If the Dodgers are unable to acquire further funds via trade, they would hope to fulfill their commitments to the rest of this year’s class in the 2026 international signing period.
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