Rōki Sasaki Update: Padres Fear Confirmed

The San Diego Padres may be at a disadvantage in the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes. Although the Padres have the Yu Darvish connection, insiders still believe the Los Angeles Dodgers are the favorites to sign Sasaki.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post revealed one insider said: “If I were a star Japanese player, I’d want to be a Dodger, too.”

Heyman still believes the Padres are at the center of the Sasaki sweepstakes, but the San Diego organization is reportedly not the favorite to land the Japanese phenom. Another insider suggested the Dodgers have a 98 percent chance to land Sasaki, while the Padres have a 2 percent chance.

Either way, the bottom line is the Padres still have a chance. However, of all the teams interested in Sasaki, the Dodgers are the most powerful organization with the most resources.

The Dodgers already have Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in their starting rotation. Ohtani and Yamamoto were both Sasaki’s teammates in the World Baseball Classic.

Darvish was also a teammate of Sasaki’s and a veteran leader for Japan, but the down side is that Darvish is already 38-years-old. He likely won’t play for much longer.

Going to the Dodgers would mean Sasaki would have Ohtani and Yamamoto around for several years. The Dodgers and Padres both have ties to Japan, but it likely could come down to a matter of preference for the 23-year-old pitcher.

The Dodgers are also reportedly interested in former Padre Blake Snell. Los Angeles is very interested in the ace, but the team is also looking at signing Corbin Burnes and Max Fried. If the Dodgers sign Sasaki, it’s almost guaranteed the team will add one more high-profile arm.

Landing Sasaki means the team would have the 23-year-old along with Yamamoto, Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin. There’s also the possibility that the Dodgers will add Snell, which would be another burn for San Diego.

Nevertheless, the Padres are still in the running for Sasaki during the rollercoaster offseason. In the winter, there are new updates practically every day about each free agent and interested teams. The two teams that have been consistently linked to Sasaki are the Padres and Dodgers.