Los Angeles Dodgers Predicted To Sign San Francisco Giants Free Agent Target

The Los Angeles Dodgers continue to be where many expect the right-handed San Francisco Giants target will sign.

Mar 20, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Japan starting pitcher Roki Sasaki (14) delivers a pitch during the first inning against Mexico at LoanDepot Park. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

To cap off a perfect offseason, the San Francisco Giants could use another starter. The Giants' winter has gone better than planned, but things could get interesting in the National League if they land another ace-caliber arm.

Where the current market stands, there aren't many available. If San Francisco is going to find its next ace to pair with Logan Webb, it'll have to be Roki Sasaki. Sasaki, a right-hander out of Japan, is the dream target for every team invited into his sweepstakes.

The Giants have made their interest clear and believe they have a chance to land the top player available.

There's optimism in landing Sasaki due to Japanese players wanting to stay close to California. That might mean he'll head to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but at the very least, San Francisco has something on its side.

But, at the end of the day, this is the Dodgers. All Los Angeles has done in recent campaigns is win and if Sasaki wants to be a member of a team with a chance to win it all, why wouldn't he head to the Dodgers?

R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports believes that will be the case, predicting Sasaki will sign with the Dodgers.

"My free-agent rankings are based on expected average annual value, but I took some creative liberties with that methodology to slot in Sasaki as high as I did. Remember, he's subject to MLB's rules regarding international amateur free agents because of his youth and limited professional experience, meaning he can sign for only as much as a team has in international bonus pool money.

In theory, Sasaki's limited earning potential should make his free agency an open affair. I'm still sticking with my original guess. I may not know what, precisely, Sasaki values most in his employer, but the Dodgers seem to offer any and everything a player could want: excellent player development staff; prestige; championship aspirations; and even some familiar faces in Team Japan teammates Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto."

It's uncertain if having Team Japan teammates will influence Sasaki's decision. In some free agency cases, Japanese-born players don't want to play with others from Japan. In others, they want to play with former teammates.

Sasaki's free agency is different than other Japanese players. He's younger than most who come over and caught some heat during his term out there due to wanting to be posted.

He clearly wants to play in Major League Baseball and will now have an opportunity to do so. The Giants will have to hope that will be with them rather than Los Angeles.