The Los Angeles Dodgers have formally met with Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, turning into the sixth workforce publicly recognized to have had a proper assembly with the 23-year-old pitcher.
President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has publicly mentioned signing Sasaki is a large precedence for the Dodgers this winter.
“He’s somebody that, clearly, is a serious precedence for us,” Friedman instructed Dodgers Nation on the Winter Conferences. “We’re going to do no matter we are able to and know that there are lots of different groups which can be going to do the very same factor.”
Sasaki has additionally met with the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, and Texas Rangers. Nonetheless, most groups have reportedly entered the assembly with the understanding that the Dodgers stay the favorites.
In contrast to the large cash contracts the Dodgers gave to beginning pitcher Blake Snell and outfielder Teoscar Hernández, Sasaki comes at a less expensive worth. Sasaki will be part of stateside baseball as a world newbie free agent, which means groups can solely provide him cash from their worldwide bonus pool.
Sasaki is anticipated to signal within the subsequent worldwide signing interval which opens on Jan. 15, the place the Dodgers will probably be amongst groups which have the least sum of money of their bonus pool with roughly $5 million. Nevertheless, cash doesn’t appear to be the precedence for Sasaki since he’s becoming a member of MLB earlier than he’s age eligible to signal a large contract.
“There are not any absolutes in baseball. And thru Roki’s eyes, there are not any absolutes in life. … he doesn’t take something as a right,” Joel Wolfe, Sasaki’s agent, mentioned on the Winter Conferences.
“The opposite factor is, it’s all the time been his dream to return to the key leagues since he was in highschool. He’s grown up idolizing gamers like Yu Darvish and Tanaka and Matsuzaka. That is one thing he’s all the time needed to do,” Wolfe added.
There may be hypothesis the Padres may additionally snag Sasaki due to a the star’s connection to veteran pitcher Yu Darvish. Nonetheless, the World Collection champion Dodgers stay the favorites to signal Sasaki.
Sasaki is poised to be among the finest pitchers to return from Japan. He turned the youngest pitcher to throw an ideal sport in Nippon Skilled Baseball in 2022. He additionally tied Shohei Ohtani for the quickest pitch recorded in NPB historical past at 102.5 mph.
In 4 NPB seasons, Sasaki posted a 29-15 file with a 2.10 ERA and 11.5 strikeouts per 9 innings. Final season, he handled some harm points however went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA.
Picture Credit score: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports activities
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