Dodgers, Padres ‘Heavy, Heavy’ Favorites to Sign Roki Sasaki as Decision Nears
Monday was a wild day in the offseason of Roki Sasaki.
Five teams have been told that they are no longer in the running for the 23-year-old: The San Francisco Giants, New York Mets and Yankees, Chicago Cubs, and Texas Rangers.
As teams are dropping like flies, the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays remain in the running.
Despite Monday providing insight of the teams remaining, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the Dodgers and Padres are still the “overwhelming favorites”.
This is great news for the Dodgers as they look to continue upon their 2024 World Series victory and start their hopes for a dynasty.
Los Angeles is also home to two major Japanese stars in Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who Sasaki would join in L.A.’s pitching rotation in 2025.
They share more than just the country they were born in as the trio played together and won the 2023 World Baseball Classic, beating team USA to bring Team Japan its first WBC championship since 2009.
Sasaki is an interesting case as a free agent, given that the signing process has been unlike any other due to his age.
Since Sasaki is not yet 25 years old and doesn’t have six years of service time, he is not yet subject to a normal free agency signing. The Dodgers were able to sign Yamamoto last season by offering him the most money since he was exactly 25 years old last offseason, but now find themselves limited to just their international bonus pool.
The bonus pool ranges from around $5.1 million to a maximum of $7.5 million. The Giants — now non-threats to sign Sasaki — and the Dodgers share the two lowest amounts in the league with $5.1 million.
The Padres hover at around $6.2 million in their pool.
Monetary reasons are reportedly not a main lure of MLB play for Sasaki, but pitching development is listed as a major reason for leaving Nippon Professional Baseball.
His agent Joel Wolfe said that “in order to take it to the next level, he had to come here, play against the best players in the world every day and tap into all the resources that Major League teams have to … help him become one of the best pitchers to ever not just come out of NPB, but to be one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball.”
The Dodgers, and pitching coach Mark Prior, have proven to have pitching development excellence, but only time will tell where Sasaki finally lands.
Photo Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
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