The Los Angeles Dodgers are the team that is most likely to sign Japanese sensation Roki Sasaki, but according to ESPN insider Jeff Passan, there are a number of other teams that are serious candidates to sign the 23-year-old pitcher.
Though Passan is right, it’s not a given just yet. The Dodgers are still thought to be the favorites to add Sasaki to their rotation. Because of the constant attention the Los Angeles squad receives, Passan thinks Sasaki might decide against joining the Dodgers.
“Sasaki will be closely associated with Los Angeles, but it is too soon to assume he will join the Dodgers,” Passan wrote. “The attention that Sasaki’s Samurai Japan colleagues Ohtani and Yamamoto bring, along with the media frenzy that follows them, adds a distinct element than other teams, even though their presence in Los Angeles is favorable.”
Sasaki would undoubtedly like to get back again with his World Baseball Classic colleagues Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani, but Passan maintains that other MLB teams might be more alluring than the World Series champion.
“MLB general managers and presidents of baseball operations were regulars at Sasaki’s starts throughout the 2024 season,” Passan continued.
Right-hander Yu Darvish, whose team, the San Diego Padres, is a possible landing location, is close to Sasaski. Though Sasaki could choose a team with experience and pedigree (the Chicago Cubs), a team in a foreign city (the Toronto Blue Jays), one whose success with Japanese players still resonates (Darvish began his career with the Texas Rangers), or one whose reputation for bringing out the best in players (the Tampa Bay Rays), both New York teams are very interested in him. Once Sasaki is posted, a lot of other franchises can and will make compelling offers to him.
Despite being a WBC leader for Japan, Darvish is an experienced fighter who is getting too old for his position in San Diego. Ohtani and Yamamoto are still in Los Angeles for a number of years. Of course, other teams could present compelling reasons for Sasaki to join their team. Going to a team with familiar faces and a World Series title in hand, however, feels more alluring than anything else.
Get to know who he is
Roki Sasaki is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher known for his remarkable speed, control, and poise on the mound. He pitches for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), Japan’s top baseball league. Born on November 3, 2001, Sasaki gained national and international attention for his pitching skills from a young age. His fastball often exceeds 100 mph (160 km/h), making him one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in Japan.
One of his most notable achievements came in April 2022, when he pitched a perfect game—the first in the NPB in 28 years—striking out 19 batters, including a record 13 consecutive strikeouts, in one of the most dominant pitching performances in NPB history. Following this, he continued to demonstrate exceptional ability, sparking significant interest from MLB scouts, who view him as a potential future star in Major League Baseball.
Nicknamed “The Monster of the Reiwa Era” (referring to the current era in Japan), Sasaki is highly anticipated to be a significant force internationally, given his combination of velocity, movement, and pitching intelligence. However, due to NPB’s player control rules, his path to MLB may take a few years unless he’s posted by his team earlier.
