LOS ANGELES (AP) – Award-winning Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki says in an Instagram post he intends to sign with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
A 23-year-old right-hander whose fastball exceeds 100 mph, Sasaki will join other Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani And Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a move long awaited by many baseball executives.
The San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays are reportedly the other finalists still looking for Sasaki, who has until next Thursday to finalize a contract.
“I signed a minor contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers,” Sasaki’s message read in Japanese. “It was a very difficult decision, but I will do my best. I can feel that it was a correct decision, once I look back on my life as a baseball player. During my press conference to join the club , I hope to wear my Dodgers uniform, feeling gratitude to everyone who supported me.
Sasaki was made available to MLB teams for a 45-day window by the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese Pacific League as part of the secondment agreement between Nippon Professional Baseball and MLB. Because he is under 25 and does not have six years of NPB service, Sasaki is considered an international amateur by MLB and limited to a minor league contract subject to signing pools.
The Marines will collect a release fee calculated at 25 percent of Sasaki’s signing bonus amount.
In a news conference at the Winter Meetings last month, Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, denied that a deal with the Dodgers was already in place. Wolfe said MLB investigated.
“There has been a lot of discussion in the media, around the league and at NPB about the Roki situation,” Wolfe said. “There have been accusations, allegations, all false, made about predetermined agreements, things like that. However, MLB rightly wanted to ensure that the playing field would be level and fair for everyone, so it did its due diligence and interviewed many parties in advance to ensure that this was the case. case.
Sasaki was 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 games last year, striking out 129 batters in 111 innings during a season limited by shoulder inflammation. He went 7-4 with a 1.78 ERA in 15 starts in 2023, when he dealt with an oblique injury. He has a career record of 29-15 with a 2.10 ERA over four seasons with the Marines and pitched a perfect game against Orix in April 2022.
The Dodgers’ first spring training will be held Feb. 11 in Glendale, Ariz., before their opening two-game series against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo March 18 and 19.
