The Los Angeles Dodgers have had an in-person meeting with free agent pitcher Roki Sasaki, according to the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett.
Prior to that report, there were five teams known to have met with the Japanese right-hander: the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants. The Chicago White Sox made it clear that they would be making a pitch to Sasaki at the Winter Meetings, while the Colorado Rockies were one of the first clubs to contact his agent when he hit the open market, but it remains to be seen if those teams have been given seats at the table.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, have been the presumptive favorites to land Sasaki since before he was even officially posted. The San Diego Padres have also been heavily tied to the 23-year-old righty.
Because he has not turned 25 years old yet, Sasaki has been designated as an international amateur free agent and will be subject to bonus pool restrictions. That has placed a hard cap on what he can sign for, just as it did with Ohtani back in 2017.
The 2024 international signing period has ended, meaning Sasaki won’t be able to sign with a team until the 2025 period opens on Jan. 15. But because his posting window ends on Jan. 23, Sasaki has one week to work with when it comes to ironing out a final contract.
Sasaki turned pro in 2019 and finished his NPB career with a 30-15 record, 2.02 ERA, 0.883 WHIP and 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings. He also went 1-0 with a 3.52 ERA, 1.174 WHIP and 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, winning a Gold Medal with Japan while showing off his 102 mile-per-hour fastball.
The 6-foot-4 righty was a two-time NPB All-Star, having pitched a perfect game and broken NPB’s single-game strikeout record in 2022. While he dealt with shoulder soreness this season, Sasaki still went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA, 1.036 WHIP and 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings across 18 starts.
On the surface, it doesn’t seem like the Dodgers would even need Sasaki. After all, Los Angeles won the World Series in 2024 and has a treasure trove of starters already on their roster.
Although Walker Buehler left in free agency and Jack Flaherty could soon follow him out the door, the banged-up quartet of Ohtani, Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May are all slated to return to the rotation in 2025. Two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell joined the fray last month as well, on top of returning arms Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Sasaki could opt to join Ohtani and Yamamoto by becoming the latest Japanese superstar to sign with the Dodgers in free agency. Picking Los Angeles would also give Sasaki a longer runway and larger cushion to work with, since the number of high-paid, veteran pitchers would take a load off his shoulders in the early goings of his time in MLB.
But if Sasaki isn’t sold on playing in a big market like Los Angeles – or playing in Ohtani and Yamamoto’s shadows – then perhaps the Dodgers’ pitch fell on deaf ears.