Roki Sasaki could earn an additional MLB draft pick from the Dodgers

Image credit:
(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

The defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers landed Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki Friday night, providing an extreme example of the rich getting richer.

But there’s also another way signing Sasaki could benefit the Dodgers. It could also net them a valuable draft pick.

Because he does not meet the standards to be considered a “foreign professional,” Sasaki is eligible for the Prospect Performance Incentive (PPI).

News related to Roki Sasaki

To meet PPI eligibility standards, a player must be a rookie with less than 60 days of service on an MLB roster (active or injured list). He must accrue a full season of MLB service during his rookie season and he must be on two of the three top 100 prospect lists (Baseball America, MLB.com and ESPN.com). Players who meet the “foreign professional” standards of the MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement (players age 25 or older and with seven or more years of experience in a top international league) are explicitly not eligible for PPI choices.

Sasaki meets the rookie standard and it would be shocking if he doesn’t meet the service time standard for the entire season. He is unlikely to spend any time in the minors in 2025. Even if he misses time due to injury, time spent on the MLB injured list counts toward a full season of service in the MLB.

So the only other hurdle is getting on two of the three top 100 prospect lists. We can’t speak for MLB.com or ESPN.com, but Sasaki will be included in Baseball America’s top 100 prospects when we reveal our rankings on January 22.

Although we no longer include players considered “foreign professionals” in our Top 100 Prospect rankings, Sasaki is eligible since he signed a MiLB contract and entered MLB through the international signing bonus pool system.

So if ESPN or MLB ranks Sasaki, he will be PPI eligible. Then, if he wins NL Rookie of the Year or finishes in the top three in Cy Young Award voting in a season before qualifying for arbitration, he will earn the Dodgers a pick PPI at the end of the first round of the next one. MLB Draft. (Technically, a top-three MVP vote would also meet the standards, but no pitcher will finish in the top three in MVP voting and outside the top three in Cy Young Award voting).

In 2024, the D-backs picked 31st (drafting Kentucky outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt) and the Orioles drafted 32nd (drafting Virginia shortstop Griff O’Ferrall) with PPI picks earned for prizes of the year for Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson. In 2023, the Mariners drafted outfielder Jonny Farmelo 29th overall with a PPI pick awarded for Julio Rodriguez’s Rookie of the Year award. The Royals will get a PPI pick in 2025 due to Bobby Witt Jr.’s top-three finish in the AL MVP race.

So, in addition to signing due to MLB rules for a well below market rate, Sasaki could give the Dodgers a very valuable draft pick in an upcoming season.