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Star Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki to sign with LA Dodgers
Reuters • January 18th, 2025 1:30 pm
Photo: AP
Star Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki has announced on Instagram he will sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Sasaki, 23, was the most coveted international free agent of the MLB offseason. He chose to sign with the reigning World Series champions, who have bolstered their oft-injured starting rotation immensely since the winter began.
Sasaki will join a rotation headlined by countrymen Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and also feature two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and 2024 All-Star Tyler Glasnow.
Snell, most recently of the San Francisco Giants, also signed with Los Angeles this offseason.
It was reportedly down to the Dodgers, the San Diego Padres and the Toronto Blue Jays to snatch Sasaki. But it was later reported it was just between the Dodgers and Blue Jays.
The signing period for international players opened on Wednesday, giving Sasaki and other players just eight days - until Thursday - to sign a contract.
Terms of Sasaki's new contract were not yet known.
Los Angeles have up to $5.1 million ($NZ9.2m) available in their international signing bonus pool, though the Dodgers could make trades in the next week to increase the amount by up to 60 per cent.
The Dodgers are planning to use a six-man rotation, which could ease Sasaki's transition to MLB, as the Dodgers attempt to become the first repeat champions since the New York Yankees from 1998 to 2000.
Japan pitcher Sasaki was made available to Major League Baseball teams by the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan's Pacific League under the posting agreement between Nippon Professional Baseball and MLB.
However, because he is under 25 and does not have six years of service time in NPB, Sasaki is considered an international amateur by MLB and limited to a minor league contract subject to the signing pools.
The Marines will get a release fee calculated at 25 per cent of the amount of Sasaki's signing bonus.
Sasaki became a folk hero when he set a fastball record for high schoolers with a 101 mph clocking and introduced himself on the world stage during the World Baseball Classic in 2023.
In his only start - a win against Mexico - Sasaki averaged 100.5 mph on his fastball.
He also set a single-game record in Japan in 2022 with 19 strikeouts, including a stretch of 13 consecutive Ks, in a perfect game.
- with AP
