Roki Sasaki Predicted to Join Major Dodgers Rival in Shocking Move

Gabe Smallson | 20 Hours Ago

Mar 20, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Japan starting pitcher Roki Sasaki (14) celebrates with teammates after the first inning against Mexico at LoanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The offseason of Roki Sasaki is continuing to move along.

The Los Angeles Dodgers seem like they have the perfect situation for the 23-year-old right hander. But even with their willingness to spend big on top talent, Sasaki will be a different challenge.

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In fact, this is a different landscape entirely for any team in their usual free agent courting process. The Dodgers have usually enjoyed the comfort of not being afraid of paying well into the luxury tax, but Sasaki can only be signed through each team’s international bonus pools given his age and baseball experience.

If the phenom waited until turning 25, he would be in line for a much larger deal. However, his agent Joel Wolfe explained that his client, "is a guy that wants to be great. He’s not coming here just to be rich or to get a huge contract. He wants to be great. He wants to be one of the greatest ever."

Dodgers' pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto — who was also Sasaki's World Baseball Classic teammate in 2023 — was able to ink a 12-year, $325 million deal when he came over from Japan last year since he was over the 25-year-old age limit. The Dodgers weren't shy in handing out that kind of money to a player who never threw a pitch in MLB.

If Sasaki were to join the Dodgers, Yamamoto wouldn't be his only former teammate in Los Angeles. Reigning MVP Shohei Ohtani is not only a would-be coworker, but would also join him on the mound as he gears up to be a part of the Dodgers rotation in 2025.

Two teammates who won a world championship with the 23-year-old are waiting for him in L.A., along with some of the best pitching development coaches in MLB. Despite this, The Athletic's Jim Bowden predicts Sasaki will not be a Dodger come Spring Training.

Bowden predicts Sasaki will wind up with one of the teams: The San Diego Padres or the World Series runner-up New York Yankees.

The case for the Yankees is clear. They, too, are a big-market team and do not already have two of the most influential Japanese players in MLB making more room for potential endorsements for Sasaki. The young phenom's favorite player growing up according to Bowden was Masahiro Tanaka — a seven-year Yankee veteran — which would make many assume he was a Yankee fan growing up.

Another influential MLB veteran plays for the Padres, though, in Yu Darvish.

Darvish is seen as a godfather type person to Sasaki and he mentored the star during their time on team Japan in the WBC. Darvish was also known to be displeased that Ohtani and Yamamoto did not pick the Padres when they brought their talents to the Dodgers last season.

It appears he'll do whatever he can to ensure Sasaki doesn't follow Yamamoto and Ohtani to L.A.

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