Roki Sasaki addressed the elephant in the room while being officially introduced Wednesday as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ latest star free agent.
Sasaki, a 23-year-old Japanese right-handed pitcher, arrived in MLB as an amateur international free agent, meaning his first contract will include six years of club control and a rookie salary in 2025. That allowed every MLB team to be in the mix to sign Sasaki, but like so many other star free agents in recent years, Sasaki opted to sign with the defending World Series champions.
Sasaki was asked Wednesday about his decision to choose the Dodgers over his offers from other teams – a decision that upset many in the MLB world as Los Angeles added another high-profile star as Many teams continue to sit on the bench in free agency.
“I think the No. 1 thing that stood out was the stability of the front office,” Sasaki said Wednesday through an interpreter. “I had the opportunity to talk with a lot of teams, and they had a lot of interesting traits. But overall, when I looked at the general consensus, I thought the Dodgers were at the top. “
About 20 MLB teams contacted Sasaki in December in hopes of luring him to his city. He reportedly met in person with at least eight teams in Los Angeles: the Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants.
Teams were eliminated by Sasaki until only three finalists remained: the Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays. Sasaki opted to follow in the footsteps of Blake Snell, Teoscar Hernandez, Michael Conforto and Hyeseong Kim this offseason and choose the Dodgers ahead of other offers.
“As I make my transition to the major leagues, I am deeply honored that many teams have reached out to me with such enthusiasm, especially since I have not accomplished much in Japan,” said Sasaki. “I am truly grateful to all of the team officials who took the time to meet with me throughout this process.
“Each organization has helped me in their own way, and it was an incredibly difficult decision to choose just one. … I am fully aware that there are many different opinions, but now that I have decided to come (in Los Angeles), I want to move forward with the conviction that the decision I made is the best.”
Sasaki now joins the Dodgers’ loaded starting rotation along with other Japanese stars like Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani, as well as Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May.
“It wasn’t a priority for me whether or not there was a Japanese player on a team, because I was looking at all the teams,” Sasaki said. “Being able to play with Ohtani and Yamamoto, two exceptional players, I’m really looking forward to playing with them, and not just them, but the rest of the team who are incredible as well.”
