Various sources reported Monday that Roki Sasaki has indeed narrowed his focus to the Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Yesterday, clips of Sasaki working out at Petco Park wearing Padres apparel surfaced. No one puts too much stock into this, as Sasaki was scheduled to meet with the Dodgers yesterday in person. He had also previously spent time in Toronto with the Blue Jays’ brass.
At the same time, visualizing Sasaki in a Padres uniform crystallized one clear thought: It would be better for baseball if he ended up in San Diego over LA and Toronto.
The sport seems to have grown in popularity, particularly in international markets, with the emergence of some major non-American stars and the widespread usage of social media.
Shohei Ohtani, in particular, has grown the sport of baseball in Japan to new heights even further than it was previously (which was already sizable). As a result, kids all over the country are donning Dodgers jerseys and anxiously waiting for games to be shown. MLB’s decision to play regular season games in South Korea, Japan, and Mexico is no accident, either.
The next ironically enough in growing the game involves fans stateside. For far too long, Major League Baseball has been viewed as an old, boring, stodgy game in comparison to basketball or football. The marketing aspect of the sport here did/still somewhat pale in comparison to other major sports within the U.S.
If the sport is going to be slightly weakened by a lack of marketing prowess, the next best step is the hope that natural, organic rivalries sprout up to give the casual fan something to be excited about.
This last year, Major League Baseball welcomed a dream scenario that saw the Dodgers play the Yankees in the World Series. The bicoastal showdown featured the two biggest baseball brands in the world. While LA thoroughly dominated New York, there was an even more exciting series to kick off postseason play. That involved the Dodgers and the NL West rival Padres.
This is where the argument comes full circle. The casual fan — whether correct or incorrect — views the Dodgers as a juggernaut with infinite resources and somewhat of an unfair advantage over the rest of the sport. LA shouldn’t be lambasted for being run exceptionally well on top of being flush with cash and a vision to grow the franchise’s wealth.
Stockpiling Sasaki onto an already-loaded team would certainly turn some casual fans off. However, adding Sasaki to the Padres would intensify arguably the best rivalry in the sport right now.
San Diego definitely got the better of the big, bad bully down south during the regular season. Flush with talent and a host of electric personalities, the Padres are not afraid of the Dodgers by any stretch of the imagination. The outward emotion shown by Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Michael King, and others has many gravitating toward San Diego as a must-watch TV.
In the opening round of the playoffs, LA came back from a 2-1 deficit to upend San Diego in the decisive Game 5 at Dodger Stadium. From there, the Dodgers essentially cruised to a World Series title.
In the aftermath of postseason play, numerous Dodgers — including Mookie Betts — remarked that San Diego was the best team they had played (along with possessing the best fan base). From an objective standpoint, it felt like the winner of that initial series was going to be the heavy favorite to win it all.
The two teams don’t like one another. You’ve even got the crossover of players (Machado, Yu Darvish) who once played for the Dodgers and left under ruffled circumstances. Machado and Darvish famously failed in LA’s attempt to win a World Series a few years ago. Neither were re-signed, and each ended up ironically in San Diego.
As for Sasaki, the starlet prodigy everyone is clamoring for, it would be very fascinating to see him in San Diego. He’d be able to pitch alongside his idol in Darvish. Even more, he’d join a young, fun team that — you guessed it — the casual fan would get behind. Knowing how badly the Dodgers want Sasaki, it would intensify the rivalry even more should he opt for the Padres.
Envisioning a scenario in postseason play where Ohtani was in the batter’s box facing the flamethrowing Sasaki would be something everyone would thoroughly pay to watch occur.
