Sasaki rolls out his view on La Dodgers interest during... Read more

Sasaki rolls out his view on La Dodgers interest during… Read more

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Dodgers aim to keep retooling as 2024-2025 offseason rolls on

Dodgers to do whatever they can to sign Sasaki: ‘A major priority for us’

Roki Sasaki becomes a free agent

Nov 12, 2024 · 0:30

Roki Sasaki becomes a free agent

By Sonja Chen @sonjamchen

December 10, 2024

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DALLAS — If there’s one thing the Dodgers took away from 2024, it’s that there’s no such thing as too much starting pitching depth.

Technically, they had just enough arms at their disposal to get through the season with a World Series title to show for it. But the situation was far from comfortable, as Los Angeles’ rotation was down to only three traditional starting pitchers in the postseason, forced to use bullpen games to bridge the gap.

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“I’ll never say again that I feel good about the depth,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Tuesday at the Winter Meetings, “so the answer’s now always, I feel terrible about the depth.”

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The Dodgers are likely to begin the season with a six-man rotation, and even after signing left-hander Blake Snell to a five-year, $182 million deal, they could use more options to make that a reality.

Enter Roki Sasaki, the 23-year-old phenom from Japan who was just posted by his NPB club, the Chiba Lotte Marines.

It’s on: Sasaki setting up plans to meet with suitors

Considered one of the most talented young pitchers in the world, Sasaki recorded a 2.02 ERA with 524 strikeouts and 91 walks in 414 2/3 innings across four seasons with the Marines. He flashed his tantalizing stuff on the international stage in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, when he won gold with Samurai Japan.

“He’s someone that is obviously a major priority for us,” Friedman said, “and we’re going to do whatever we can, and know that there are a lot of other teams that are going to do the exact same thing.”

Statcast breaks down Roki Sasaki’s pitch arsenal

Nov 20, 2024 · 0:31

Statcast breaks down Roki Sasaki’s pitch arsenal

Clubs have until Jan. 23 to negotiate with Sasaki, who is likely to sign when the 2025 international signing period begins on Jan. 15, his agent Joel Wolfe said while outlining his client’s approach to the process on Tuesday.

Unlike when the Dodgers gave out the most guaranteed dollars to a pitcher with Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s 12-year, $325 million contract last December, the playing field for teams bidding for Sasaki’s services is much more level. Because Sasaki is younger than 25 years old, he qualifies as an international amateur free agent under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, meaning he’s subject to international bonus pool money restrictions and comes with six years of club control.

Rather than wait two years to potentially get a larger contract, Sasaki is motivated to act now in order to sooner realize his dream of pitching in the big leagues.

“It is not an absolute lock, as some people in baseball have assumed, that two years from now he’s going to get a Yamamoto contract,” said Wolfe. “Baseball just doesn’t work that way. If you look at the epidemic of injuries that pitchers here suffer, they have the same potential issues. He could have Tommy John surgery; he’s had two shoulder injuries, he’s had oblique injuries. Things may not go the way they want.

“The other thing is, it’s always been his dream to come to the Major Leagues since he was in high school. He’s grown up idolizing players like Yu Darvish and [Masahiro] Tanaka and [Daisuke] Matsuzaka. This is something he always wanted to do, and when he went to the WBC and he was around some of these Major League players, it really rubbed off on him that he became sure that this is what I want to do as soon as possible.”

MLB Tonight on Roki Sasaki being posted to MLB

Dec 10, 2024 · 1:17

MLB Tonight on Roki Sasaki being posted to MLB

While the Dodgers are viewed as one of the most likely destinations for Sasaki, there are a couple of factors that are not in their favor. Los Angeles is working from the smallest international bonus pool for the 2025 period, which Friedman is not overly concerned about. Wolfe also said that signing with a small- to mid-market team may be beneficial for Sasaki, who has not had a great experience with the media in Japan due in part to his being vocal about wanting to be posted for Major League clubs.

The Dodgers pursued Shohei Ohtani in 2017 when he was under the same restrictions. Ohtani chose the Angels then, but because the posting process is different for every individual, they won’t take much away from that experience other than how to best represent the city and their organization.

While he said the organization has scouted Sasaki “a lot,” Friedman has only had the chance to watch him in person once. Nevertheless, that was enough to leave an impression.

“He’s incredibly talented,” Friedman said. “Really physical. … He has talked about his desire to be the best pitcher in the world, and we believe that he is capable of being the best pitcher in the world.”

Sonja Chen covers the Dodgers for MLB.com.

Read more: Los Angeles DodgersRoki Sasaki

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Sasaki rolls out his view on La Dodgers interest during… Read more

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