Roki Sasaki’s Agent: It Was a ‘Coin Flip’ Between Dodgers, Padres, Blue Jays
Roki Sasaki wasn’t always destined for the Los Angeles Dodgers like many speculated.
According to the Japanese phenom’s agent Joel Wolfe, Sasaki could have easily ended up choosing the San Diego Padres or Toronto Blue Jays instead.
More news: Roki Sasaki Reveals Motivation in Signing With Dodgers Over Padres, Blue Jays, Others
However, when Sasaki announced he would be joining the reigning World Series champions, there was an outcry from many baseball fans. There were several questions surrounding the integrity of Sasaki’s free agent process, but Wolfe defended the 23-year-old pitcher’s journey to stateside baseball.
“It’s always been an issue,” Wolfe told The Athletic. “I’ve tried to be an open book and as transparent as possible with all the teams in the league. I answer every phone call. I answer every question. This goes back to before the process even started.
“Every team I think would tell you that I told each one of them where they stood throughout the entire process, why they got a meeting, why they didn’t get a meeting, why other teams got a meeting. I tried to do my best to do that. He was only going to be able to pick one.”
Though the Dodgers have more to offer than the Padres and Blue Jays, Wolfe heaped high praise for both organization’s presentations to Sasaki.
“I felt like he could easily go to Toronto,” Wolfe said. “When we left San Diego, I felt like he could easily choose San Diego. When he came here, I really thought the entire process was a coin flip.”
Nonetheless, Wolfe added an important caveat.
“The Dodgers do have a home-field advantage in Japan.”
However, the Dodgers did not earn an esteemed reputation in Japan overnight, it was decades in the making.
Baseball fans will always hate the team at the top — it’s a tale as old as time. But the Dodgers will continue to make their own path and look to return to the Fall Classic in 2025 and beyond.
More news: Dodgers Plan for Roki Sasaki in 2025 Revealed by Andrew Friedman
Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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