The Los Angeles Dodgers are the last of three finalists to meet Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, getting one last pitch Tuesday with the 23-year-old right-hander, league sources said. Athletics Tuesday.
Sasaki narrowed his list of suitors to three finalists on Monday: the Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays. While the Dodgers were among the first clubs to meet with Sasaki and his representatives at Wasserman’s Los Angeles offices last month, Sasaki recently made city tours to Toronto and San Diego.
Sasaki has been in Los Angeles for most of his time in the United States, but reuniting the Dodgers would give them something not offered at Wasserman’s office meetings (but allowed during his city tours with the Blue Jays and the Padres): the presence of players to strengthen the team’s field, sources said.
The Dodgers’ field, according to sources, is expected to feature several of their stars.
The Dodgers have long been considered the favorites to land Sasaki, and they have made no secret of their appetite to add the hard-throwing young right-handed pitcher at a relative price. Since Sasaki is arriving now, rather than in two years when he can really cash in, he will be limited to whatever is available in potential clubs’ international bonus pools, forcing at least the Dodgers and Padres to put their international signature in 2025. course pending.
The international signing period opens on Wednesday, although Sasaki is expected to make a decision closer to the end of his assignment window which ends on January 23.
For the Dodgers, the ability to showcase their star power could be a major draw. Just as was the case with Yu Darvish — one of several Padres stars, including Manny Machado and Joe Musgrove who were there for Sasaki’s tour — the Dodgers have some of Sasaki’s teammates from the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Los Angeles committed more than $1 billion to Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto last winter and said it wanted to “turn Japan blue,” in the words of manager Dave Roberts. The Dodgers have already shown their ability to maximize sponsorship opportunities in the market, which could serve as a call to help Sasaki recoup at least some of the immediate on-field revenue he would sacrifice by leaving the Chiba Lotte Marines at age he did.
The organization has been considered Sasaki’s favorite for long enough that his agent, Joel Wolfe, has repeatedly pushed back on the idea of a handshake deal. And while Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman called the pursuit of Sasaki a “major priority” during last month’s winter meetings, the organization has largely kept much of it under wraps.
Required reading
(Photo: Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)
