The Los Angeles Dodgers have been regarded as the favorite to land the young Japanese fireball pitcher, Roki Sasaki since he was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines earlier this year. But new reporting is showing that the San Deigo Padres are well in the Sasaki sweepstakes.
San Diego Padres In The Mix With The Dodgers For Sasaki
“People thought he was going to sign with the Dodgers, that was a done deal,” Bob Nightengale of USA Today 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.”
Baseball reporter Francys Romero’s sources are telling him that the Padres are in a ‘strong position’ to land the 23-year-old.
Padres’ pitcher Yu Darvish has been actively recruiting Sasaki to look south to San Diego as his first MLB home. The Athletic’s Dennis Lin said Darvish “stands as a potential bulwark against the sport’s wealthiest team acquiring Sasaki along with millions in surplus value” and that “he attended Samurai Japan’s entire training camp, mentored Sasaki and other [World Baseball Classic] teammates, and served as a steadying presence throughout an undefeated run to the tournament championship.
Because of the rules surrounding players in Sasaki’s situation, the Dodgers’ deep pockets won’t be the key factor in deciding where he lands. It will come down to opportunities and relationships that exist in the given markets.
The advantages of joining the Dodgers have obvious upsides, but the motivations of clubs and players don’t always intersect. Lin describes Sasaki’s motivations as ‘somewhat mysterious.’ His statement on the matter released by the Marines focuses not on winning World Series rings, but on becoming the best and honoring those who have supported him up to this point.
“[I’ll] do my best to climb up from a minor-league contract to become the best player in the world, so that I have no regrets about my one and only baseball career and can live up to the expectations of everyone who has supported me so far.”
