Dodgers Target Roki Sasaki Very Interested in Specific Aspect of Next Team
Roki Sasaki will be signing with a team in the next international signing period which opens Jan. 15. As Sasaki narrows down his choices, he will be putting a focus on pitching development.
Joel Wolfe of Wasserman, Sasaki’s agent, divulged the 23-year-old pitcher’s thought process isn’t typical.
“We’ve had numerous conversations about team location, market size, team success – things like that,” Wolfe told Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register. “He doesn’t seem to look at it in the typical way that other players do. He has a more long-term, global view of things. I believe Roki is also very interested in the pitching development and how a team is going to help him get better both in the near future and over the course of his career.”
Like Shohei Ohtani, Sasaki chose to join MLB before he was age-eligible to sign as an international free agent. Because Sasaki is signing as an amateur, team’s are limited to offering him a contract from their international bonus pool. Sasaki’s decision to make the jump to stateside baseball before he could sign a lucrative contract makes it abundantly clear money isn’t a priority at this point in his career.
“Roki is by no means a finished product. He knows it and the teams know it. He is incredibly talented. We all know that,” Wolfe said Monday. “But he is a guy that wants to be great. He’s not coming here to be rich or to get a huge contract. He wants to be great. He wants to be one of the greatest ever. I see that now and he has articulated it.
“To be that he knows he has to challenge himself. … I’m not speaking for Roki. I’m speaking my own opinion that in order to take it to another level he (realized he) had to come here and play against the best players every day and tap into all the resources that major league teams have to help him become one of the best pitchers not just to come out of NPB but in Major League Baseball. That’s what he wants. That’s why he came.”
With a reputation of transforming struggling pitchers into stars, the Dodgers can offer Sasaki a path to greatness. As Sasaki is already seen as one of the greatest young pitchers in the world, there’s a possibility he could emerge as the greatest pitcher to ever come out of Japan.
Greater than Hideo Nomo, greater than Yu Darvish, Sasaki can surpass them all.
Photo Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
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The Dodgers are one of the best teams at developing pitchers, Sand Diego… not so much.
I’d love to have Roki on the Ds, but if I was his agent, I would advise him to look elsewhere. Yes, the Ds are great at developing pitchers, but most of that is in the minors. In the majors, they eat up arms, the overwork their pitchers. But more than that, if he wants to be the greatest ever, he will need awards and accolades. WS championships are great, but he will be competing every year just to be the best on the Dodgers. That will make it harder to stand out.
The Dodgers definitely do NOT overwork their starting pitchers. Bullpen? Maybe. But not starters.
I wont argue with you about the number of injuries to the starting rotation though. Something needs to be figured out there. Maybe the 6 man rotation will help with the extra rest between starts.
Too bad the PITCH CLOCK is going to end his “”best pitcher ever”” possibilities.. they need to make it 20seconds always and even that will not cure the issue with too much strain and lack of rest between pitches especially in long innings for pitchers.. it’s Terrible that the Pitchers don’t stand up and extend the pitch clock to at least 20seconds.. 25 would be ideal for their safety
If Sosaki was in any way capably informed about the MLB and their development opportunities and capabilities, he would already know that the Los Angeles Dodgers have the best reputation amongst players and team management around the league for their to tier farm system and the best pitcher development and rehab programs and staff in the league. If its as important to him as his agent believes, he’ll be in Dodger Blue by Jan 16th, not the 23rd.
I agree with you the dodgers are known for transforming bad pitchers into greats, I think the non dodger fans are the ones saying differently, and what better way to be great is to win multiple World Series titles