The Los Angeles Dodgers gained a huge addition to their stable of starting pitchers with the signing of Roki Sasaki this offseason.
Because Sasaki was considered an international amateur free agent, he was limited to the constraints of a Minor League contract. Sasaki received a $6.5 million signing bonus from the Dodgers.
Coming across seas as one of Nippon Professional Baseball’s top arms, the Dodgers signed the top Japanese pitcher in back-to-back seasons, previously adding Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Looking ahead to 2025, the Dodgers also stand to gain draft pick compensation based on how Sasaki performs in his rookie season.
Based on MLB’s Prospect Performance Incentive (PPI), if Sasaki wins National League Rookie of the Year, the Dodgers would gain a draft pick within the first 35 selections. To be PPI elligible, a player must accrue a full season of MLB service time and be listed on two of three top 100 prospect lists.
A player is deemed to have reached one year of Major League service upon accruing 172 days on the roster in a given year out of the 187 total days. If a player is injured while on an MLB roster and gets placed on the IL, he continues to accrue service time.
Sasaki became eligible from the prospect standpoint by being named on Baseball America’s and MLB Pipeline’s top 100 lists. ESPN did not place him on their list due to his NPB career.
Sasaki headlined both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline’s lists as their top prospect in MLB, making him the clear favorite to win Rookie of the Year.
He is likely to spend the majority, if not all, of his rookie season in MLB, and even if he spends time on the injured list with the Dodgers, it counts toward a full season.
Sasaki boasts a devastating splitter, one that is likely to be among the best in baseball once he debuts. Although his fastball has taken a step back, some of that can be attributed to injuries he sustained last year.
MLB found no wrongdoing in Dodgers’ pursuit of Roki Sasaki
When the news broke of Sasaki’s intent to sign with the Dodgers, widespread frustration surrounding the deal was seen on social media with baseball fans.
The Toronto Blue Jays and San Diego Padres were among the finalists, but even with the Blue Jays acquiring additional international bonus pool money, the Dodgers were the ultimate pick.
Some traction with a prior handshake agreement between Sasaki and the Dodgers was spoken of, but MLB investigated this prior to his posting and found no wrongdoing between the two parties.
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