Fireballer Frenzy: Dodgers Emerging as Front-runners for…
There have been difficult times to be a Los Angeles Dodgers fan, but this November is not one of them.
Right before the month began, Dodgers fans got to celebrate their second World Series title in five years. But that was hardly enough happiness for the Dodgers because the focus had already begun shifting to making the team even better for the 2025 season.
Roki Sasaki, the 23-year-old Japanese superstar pitcher who was rumored to be seeking an early transition to Major League Baseball, is officially coming to the United States. His current team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, announced on Saturday that they would respect his wishes and post him this winter.
Normally, Japanese players wait to turn 25 before their teams post them, because that allows them to sign unrestricted free-agent contracts while the teams can collect larger posting fees. But Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani blazed the path Sasaki is now taking, coming over early himself in 2018.
Joining a popular chorus of sentiment around MLB circles, insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post named the Dodgers as the favorites to land Sasaki on the open market this winter.
Star Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki is headed to MLB,” Heyman said on X. “Dodgers considered favorites. Again.”
Sasaki throws a fastball that tops out at 102 miles per hour, while incorporating a splitter and slider that are both top-tier offerings. Though he’s had issues staying on the mound for a full season, he is unquestionably the most talented pitcher on Earth who has yet to pitch in MLB.
Sasaki played with Ohtani and Yamamoto on the Japanese team that won the stirring World Baseball Classic finals over Team USA in 2023. Joining forces with those two in the same rotation for the next six-plus years could be too good an opportunity to pass up.
Ohtani’s record-breaking contract is already guaranteed to pay for itself multiple times over with the amount of publicity and revenue it nets the Dodgers in return. If it helps them land Sasaki for pennies on the dollar, that’s just another reason to envy Los Angeles.
