The Padres have lost the sweepstakes for baseball’s latest big prize – Roki Sasaki.
The Japanese pitcher said in an Instagram post Friday that he intends to sign with the World Series champion Dodgers.
A 23-year-old right-hander whose fastball tops 100 mph, Sasaki will join fellow Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a move many baseball executives have long expected.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by 佐々木朗希 (@rouki.sasaki)
The Padres and Blue Jays were said to be the other finalists still in pursuit of Sasaki, who has until next Thursday to finalize a contract.
“I have signed a minor (league) contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers,” Sasaki’s post said, in Japanese. “It was a very difficult decision, but I will do my best to make it the right decision when I look back after my baseball career.”
The Padres, with Japanese star Yu Darvish on the roster, felt they had a legitimate shot at Sasaki, and they had more money to play with, almost $6.26 million, than L.A. But the Dodgers, who eliminated the Padres on their way to the World Series last season, prevailed again.
Roki Sasaki gave significant consideration to other teams, especially the Padres, says @KyleAGlaser. pic.twitter.com/DBWoV7w9t1
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) January 18, 2025Los Angeles has almost $5.15 million available in its international signing bonus pool, though the team could make trades in the next week to increase the amount.
The Dodgers are planning to use a six-man rotation, which could ease Sasaki’s transition to Major League Baseball, as L.A. attempts to become the first repeat champion since the Yankees from 1998 to 2000.
Sasaki was made available to MLB teams for a 45-day window by the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Pacific League under the posting agreement between Nippon Professional Baseball and MLB.
Roki Sasaki traveled to San Diego to meet with the Padres after last week's visit to Toronto, sources tell @TheAthletic. With @WillSammon and @Ken_Rosenthal: t.co/Gd9jcOda3J
— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) January 13, 2025Because 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% of the amount of Sasaki’s signing bonus.
During a news conference at the winter meetings last month, Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, denied an agreement with the Dodgers was already in place. Wolfe said MLB had investigated.
“There was a lot of discussion in the media, in the league, in NPB about Roki’s situation,” Wolfe said. “There were some accusations, allegations, all of them false, made about predetermined deals, things like that.”
Sasaki was 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 games last year, striking out 129 hitters in 111 innings during a season limited by shoulder inflammation. He went 7-4 with a 1.78 ERA in 15 starts in 2023, when he had an oblique injury.
The Dodgers’ first spring training workout is Feb. 11 in Arizona, ahead of their season-opening two-game series against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo on March 18 and 19.
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