Dodgers Officially Meet With Roki Sasaki as Pursuit for Japanese Superstar Heats Up

The Los Angeles Dodgers have officially met with Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, becoming the sixth team publicly known to have had a formal meeting with the 23-year-old pitcher.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has publicly said signing Sasaki is a huge priority for the Dodgers this winter.

“He is someone that, obviously, is a major priority for us,” Friedman told Dodgers Nation at the Winter Meetings. “We are 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.”

Sasaki has also met with the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, and Texas Rangers. Nonetheless, most teams have reportedly entered the meeting with the understanding that the Dodgers remain the favorites.

Unlike the big money contracts the Dodgers gave to starting pitcher Blake Snell and outfielder Teoscar Hernández, Sasaki comes at a much cheaper price. Sasaki will join stateside baseball as an international amateur free agent, meaning teams can only offer him money from their international bonus pool.

Sasaki is expected to sign in the next international signing period which opens on Jan. 15, where the Dodgers will be among teams that have the least amount of money in their bonus pool with approximately $5 million. However, money doesn’t seem to be the priority for Sasaki since he is joining MLB before he is age eligible to sign a massive contract.

“There are no absolutes in baseball. And through Roki’s eyes, there are no absolutes in life. … he does not take anything for granted,” Joel Wolfe, Sasaki’s agent, said at the Winter Meetings.

“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 Tanaka and Matsuzaka. This is something he’s always wanted to do,” Wolfe added.

There is speculation the Padres could also snag Sasaki because of a the star’s connection to veteran pitcher Yu Darvish. Nevertheless, the World Series champion Dodgers remain the favorites to sign Sasaki.

Sasaki is poised to be one of the best pitchers to come from Japan. He became the youngest pitcher to throw a perfect game in Nippon Professional Baseball in 2022. He also tied Shohei Ohtani for the fastest pitch recorded in NPB history at 102.5 mph.

In four NPB seasons, Sasaki posted a 29-15 record with a 2.10 ERA and 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings. Last season, he dealt with some injury issues but went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA.