The Los Angeles Dodgers are among the teams that have reported interest in Teruaki Sato, the infielder with serious power.
Sato is the buzziest position player on the market, as the Japanese import is officially posted and looking to sign with an American team.
The layout of Sato’s free agency
According to Mark Feinsand wrote for MLB.com, the Dodgers are among the teams in the mix, which is quite the long list of big market teams.
“The Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Phillies and Padres are among the teams believed to have interest in Sato, which bodes well for the 27-year-old,” Feinsand wrote for MLB.com.
Sato has until December 1st to strike a deal before the league locks out, and he is left unable to sign with a team.
Luckily for him, there is enough interest to get a good deal of tangible offers.
Munetaka Murakami, last year’s prized slugger from Japan, just had a sensational season where he helped turn around the Chicago White Sox franchise.
He is a recent example of a top-tier NPB slugger changing the fortunes of a franchise and sparking an offense, something teams like the Phillies, Mets, Yankees, Padres, and even the Dodgers could all use.
He is just 27 years old, with a good seven years of possible peak play.
Could the Dodgers actually sign him?
Sato is expected to get paid nine figures, a high price for a Dodgers team that already carries a high payroll and has a ton of big contracts on its roster.
The Dodgers are already in the market for the biggest fish, Tarik Skubal, but if they deem it too rich to sign their three-month rental to a new deal, there could be some money for Sato.
LA does not carry many young, promising infielders in their farm system, so Sato would not be clogging up a spot for someone else, and he would add legitimate pop to the batting order.
However, like Skubal, the Dodgers do not need to go out on a limb to sign a talent like Sato, since they are already set line-up-wise for the most part.
The expectations are that the Dodgers will make modest gains, and signing Sato is anything but. If he did sign with LA, it would be a true curveball from a front office that can surprise from time to time.
