Breaking: Roki Sasaki Has Made His Choice, Signs MLB Contract
Japanese pitching sensation Roki Sasaki has decided on where he'll pitch to begin his major league career, and to the surprise of absolutely no one in the baseball world, he has chosen the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. He made the announcement himself on Instagram.
Roki Sasaki announced on Instagram that he has signed with the Dodgers. pic.twitter.com/bYbOkmU82R
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 17, 2025
The Toronto Blue Jays are the bridesmaids once again, finishing as runner-up, just as they were with Sasaki's new teammate Shohei Ohtani last year, and with Juan Soto this year.
The Blue Jays and Padres were said to be the finalists along with LA, though the Padres seemed to pull out of the bidding earlier on Friday. 20 teams originally submitted materials to the Sasaki team once he was posted last month by his Japanese team, the Chiba Lotte Marines.
The Dodgers were the favorites from the beginning, and that's not much of a surprise. In addition to being the defending champs, they have two of Sasaki's countrymates to help make his adjustment to North America easier, with Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto heading up the Dodgers rotation.
Potential Los Angeles Dodgers rotation in 2025:
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 17, 2025
Shohei Ohtani
Blake Snell
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Tyler Glasnow
Roki Sasaki
In a sport with fewer and fewer frontline starting pitchers, the Dodgers have five with No. 1-type stuff and performance. An absolutely absurd array of talent.
Sasaki signs as an international free agent, in which he'll get $6.5 million from the Dodgers.
In four NPB seasons in Japan, the 23-year-old phenom Sasaki had a 2.10 ERA and 0.89 WHIP along with 11.5 K/9.
Photo: © Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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