The Los Angeles Dodgers are at it again. After the Dodgers agreed to a deal with starting pitcher Rōki Sasaki on Friday, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com
The Rangers President of Baseball Operations said the organization put its ‘best foot forward’ in its pitch to the Japanese right-hander.
Rōki Sasaki, the 23-year-old phenom from Japan whose services for the next six seasons could be procured by every Major League Baseball franchise for the equivalent of a rounding error, ended his six-week recruiting period by agreeing to sign with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday,
The Dodgers cemented their status as the preferred MLB destination for NPB stars and transformed their rotation into a Mount Rushmore of Japanese pitching luminaries by winning the Rōki Sasaki sweepstakes.
The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes are winding down, with finalists emerging and teams being informed that they're out of the running.
Sasaki, nicknamed in Japan as "the Monster of the Reiwa Era," struck out 11 batters in 7 and ⅔ innings with a 3.52 ERA during the 2023 WBC. In Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, he struck out 129 hitters in 111 regular-season innings for the Marines in the 2024 season.
At his age and talent level, Sasaki folds in perfectly for a Dodgers club that was already planning on running a six-man rotation.
Prized Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki says in an Instagram post he intends to sign with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Along with Blake Snell – signed to a five-year, $182 million contract in December. And Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was posted one year ago after seven dominant seasons in Japan, signed a $325 million contract – and was the starting pitcher for four of the Dodgers’ 11 postseason wins.
The prized righty pitcher was one of the most sought-after international free agents in recent memory and picked the Dodgers over a considerable list of other suitors.
Shohei Ohtani reportedly played a large role in starting pitcher Rōki Sasaki signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani was part of a contingent of