The Los Angeles Dodgers are the latest of the three finalists to meet with Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, securing one last pitch Tuesday with the 23-year-old right-hander, league sources told The Athletic on Tuesday.
Sasaki whittled down his list of suitors to three finalists on Monday: the Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays. While the Dodgers had been among the first batch of clubs to meet with Sasaki and his representatives at Wasserman’s offices in Los Angeles last month, Sasaki has recently completed city tours to both Toronto and San Diego.
Sasaki has been in Los Angeles for the majority of his stay stateside, but the Dodgers’ meeting would give them something not afforded at the Wasserman office meetings (but permitted in his city tours with the Blue Jays and Padres): the presence of players to bolster the team’s pitch, sources said.
The Dodgers’ pitch, sources said, is expected to feature several of their stars.
The Dodgers have long been seen as the favorites to land Sasaki, and they have made no secret of their appetite to add the young, hard-throwing right-handed pitcher at a relative bargain. Given that Sasaki is coming over now, rather than in two years when he can truly cash in, he will be limited to whatever is available in prospective clubs’ international bonus pools, causing at least the Dodgers and the Padres to put their 2025 international signing class on hold.
The international signing period opens Wednesday, though Sasaki is expected to make a decision closer to the end of his posting window that closes on Jan. 23.
For the Dodgers, the ability to pitch their star power could serve as a major draw. Much 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 boast some of Sasaki’s teammates from the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Los Angeles committed more than a billion dollars to Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto last winter and have a stated desire to “turn Japan blue,” in manager Dave Roberts’ words. The Dodgers have already shown an ability to maximize the endorsement opportunities in the market, something that could serve as an appeal to help Sasaki recoup at least some of the immediate on-field earnings he’d sacrifice by leaving the Chiba Lotte Marines at the age he did.
The organization has been seen as the favorite for Sasaki long enough that his agent, Joel Wolfe, has repeatedly pushed back on the idea a handshake agreement was in place. And while Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman called pursuing Sasaki a “major priority” at last month’s Winter Meetings, the organization has largely kept much of it under wraps.
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