Roki Sasaki's Teammate's Comments Don't Bode Well for Padres' Chances to Sign Him

Maren Angus-Coombs | Nov 13, 2024

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

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Dallas Keuchel found himself in Japan for the last couple of months of the 2024 season pitching alongside Roki Sasaki.

Sasaki is the league's most-coveted international free agent since Shohei Ohtani but according to Keuchel, the deal is already done. The deal he spoke of doesn't bode well for the San Diego Padres.

“I heard some, some rumblings about a done deal with the Dodgers — you know, having a plan for him,” Keuchel told Joel Sherman of the New York Post. “And if I was Vegas, I would definitely put them as the favorite, but I don’t know. We never really talked about that.”

The Dodgers have been the longtime favorite but the New York Yankees and New York Mets have also been in consideration.

According to @JonHeyman, the Dodgers are favorites to land Roki Sasaki but the Padres "could have a shot".#MLBNHotStove | @AlLeiter22 pic.twitter.com/S84HXp1D1J

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 12, 2024

“We talked about those two east coast teams," Keuchel added. "I just think the Dodgers have the upper hand just because of Shohei, Yamamoto and even Darvish pitching there for that playoff run in ’17. Anywhere you went [in Japan], the Dodgers were on TV in the morning, just because of those guys. So we briefly spoke about the pinstripes and about the Mets, but really, there was no central team that we talked about.”

Los Angeles teams, both past and present, have been home to some of Japan’s top pitchers, including Hideo Nomo, Yu Darvish, Shohei Ohtani, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Keuchel believes Sasaki has the talent to outshine all of them.

Keuchel praised Sasaki’s fastball velocity and his impressive off-speed pitches, particularly his standout splitter. He also suggested that Sasaki is a strong teammate and someone easy to get along with.

“He’s a curious young man, who is very quiet, even for his own Japanese culture,” Keuchel said. “But I think he loves winning and I think he loves baseball, so you can’t really discount that. I think he literally wants to be the best version of himself he can be. And I really believe he thinks he can be one of the best pitchers of all time.”

After spending over two months with the 23-year-old pitcher, Keuchel is fully convinced that Sasaki will achieve great things in the majors. Given what he witnessed in Japan, it’s nearly certain that Sasaki will end up in a Dodgers uniform.