The Dodgers are giving Sasaki $6.5 million on a minor league deal. Sasaki had previously narrowed down his choices to the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and Toronto Blue Jays. He posted the announcement on his Instagram.
Now, he'll be joining a Dodgers team fresh off a World Series victory who are looking to make another run to defend their title. Sasaki will be playing alongside his new Japanese colleagues Yoshinobu Yamamoto and reigning National League MVP Shohei Ohtani, possibly making this the first trio of Japanese pitchers in a starting rotation in MLB history if Ohtani pitches this season.
Given Sasaki's age (under 25) and minimum experience (needs at least six seasons in an MLB-recognized organization), he is placed under international bonus pool money restrictions, which means he can only sign a minor-league contract with a signing bonus of up to around $10 million, hence the small deal.
Sasaki was the coveted international pitching prospect of the offseason, much like Dodgers starting pitcher Yamamoto was the previous year. He's coming off a season with the Chiba Lotte Marines where he put up a 2.35 ERA in 111 innings, striking out 129 while walking only 32 and giving up 83 hits.
Sasaki was 30-15 in four seasons with the Marines, putting up a stellar 2.02 ERA, 0.883 WHIP, and 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
The righty is going to add to an already stacked Dodgers pitching staff that ranked 13th in ERA, 12th in strikeouts, 8th in WHIP, and 7th in opponents' batting average. With a crammed starting rotation, the Dodgers are going to have to move some pieces around to slide Sasaki into a starting rotation.
Former manager Hideki Kuriyama said that when Sasaki pitches, "it's as if he throwing his soul, not the baseball." Sasaki's journey wasn't always easy. Stephen J. Nesbitt of The Athletic wrote a heartbreaking feature of Roki Sasaki's life before becoming the coveted pitcher that he is today.
Now that the most coveted international free agent is off of the board, the Dodgers have a lot to look forward to this upcoming season.