01-18-2025, 06:16 AM
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/4345...ng-dodgers
Roki Sasaki, the prized Japanese pitching prospect who has had scouts drooling over his potential since high school, has chosen the Los Angeles Dodgers as his major league team, he announced on Instagram on Friday.
The Dodgers, long viewed as the favorites for Sasaki, had recently emerged as one of three finalists for the 23-year-old right-hander, along with the Toronto Blue Jays and San Diego Padres. On Friday morning, sources said the Padres began agreeing to deals with their prospective international signees in the Dominican Republic, a clear sign throughout the industry that they were out on Sasaki. The Blue Jays thusly acquired $2 million in international bonus pool space -- along with center fielder Myles Straw -- from the Cleveland Guardians in hopes of enticing Sasaki.
It did not matter. A Dodgers team coming off a World Series title with a roster headlined by two of Sasaki's most celebrated countrymen, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, again landed one of the biggest prizes of the offseason.
