The Sasaki Showdown: Padres, Dodgers Engage in High-stakes Battle for…

Several industry sources have told baseball reporter Francys Romero that the San Diego Padres seem to be in a “strong position” to land Japanese free-agent pitcher Roki Sasaki.

Romero posted the update on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.

The Padres, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers have been considered the two favorites to land the international phenom. Even Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports told Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain recently stated something similar.

“People thought he was going to sign with the Dodgers, that was a done deal,” Nightengale said. “Obviously, the agent Joel Wolfe denies that. The Dodgers deny that. So, everybody wants him. He’s a great young talent. Scouts will say he’s better than Yamamoto or Ohtani — he’s raw, but not proven yet. If he doesn’t sign with the Dodgers, I think he goes to the Padres. Padres are very hopeful, cautiously optimistic. I can’t see him going anywhere else.”

While the Dodgers might appear to be favorites because of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Padres have Yu Darvish who is considered to be “a godfather-like figure among active Japanese players,” and according to Dennis Lin of The Athletic, Darvish “is said to badly want the young right-hander as his teammate.”

The Padres would greatly benefit by adding an arm like Sasaki. With Joe Musgrove set to miss the entire 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, the right-hander would be slotted into the starting rotation before even arriving to spring training.

Darvish was a mentor to Sasaki when the two attended Samurai Japan’s training camp ahead of the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and served as a veteran presence throughout the undefeated tournament run.

Another factor for Sasaki is reportedly location. He is from a small coastal town and San Diego offers a sizeable comparison to where he was raised. He would be in a smaller market than Los Angeles and wouldn’t have to deal media hordes day in and day out.

Thirdly, his agent happens to be Joel Wolfe, who also represents Darvish.

Los Angeles might be the shiny, more attractive option to most. Plus, the Dodgers are almost guaranteed to be a postseason contender for the next several years. But there is something special brewing in San Diego.

Petco Park is sold out every night, manager Mike Shildt and pitching coach Ruben Niebla have received new multiyear contracts, and the success stories of pitchers thriving with the Padres continue to mount each year.

Signing Sasaki would go a long way for San Diego and perhaps, it might just happen.