The rich got richer Friday afternoon.
Taking to his personal Instagram account, star free agent pitcher Roki Sasaki announced that he will become a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Reports started leaking Friday morning that Sasaki had eliminated the San Diego Padres — and had narrowed his focus to the Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto had even made an acquisition earlier in the day to free up more international signing bonus money.
Ultimately, it was all for naught. Sasaki will join his fellow countrymen Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the true epicenter of the sport at this point.
Andrew Friedman and the Dodgers front office had long been pursuing Sasaki. Friedman in particular made multiple trips to Japan to scout and see Sasaki in person. The natural links between Los Angeles and Tokyo are very strong, as are the links of ex-Japanese players who’ve played for the Dodgers dating back to the days of Hideo Nomo.
San Diego was a real player in this situation. The Padres offered many of the same advantages LA had (location, a contending team, passionate fan base). Sasaki’s mentor, Yu Darvish, is even a member of the team.
However, with the public troubles centering around the team’s ownership situation, it ultimately was not something Sasaki wanted any part of. Toronto also offered some unique qualities — specifically being the sole baseball team in the entire country of Canada. However, the team is a considerable ways away from contending for a World Series. The vibrant Japanese community in Los Angeles is also considerably bigger than that of Toronto.
Ultimately, Sasaki enters a situation where he’s with the best franchise in professional baseball. He can take his time developing properly with the depth already assembled on the roster. At only 23 years of age, he also represents the face of the next wave of players who will lead the Dodgers into the future in the post-Freddie Freeman/Mookie Betts world.
