Dodgers Did Nothing Against the Rules in Roki Sasaki Pursuit, Says Insider

Long before Roki Sasaki announced he was signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Major League Baseball conducted an investigation into the process surrounding his posting, according to USA Today Sports baseball insider Bob Nightengale.

An MLB official confirmed to Nightengale and to the Los Angeles Times that the league launched the probe to "ensure the protocol agreement had been followed" before approving Sasaki’s posting.

A separate source familiar with the matter, speaking anonymously to the Times, said MLB interviewed "numerous parties" during the investigation but found no evidence to support the circulating rumors.

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Speculation was fueled by public comments from baseball figures like Jim Bowden, former general manager of the Reds and Nationals and now an analyst for CBS Sports and The Athletic. Bowden suggested that other teams might push for a deeper investigation.

“I think you’re going to find there’s going to be multiple teams that are going to ask the commissioner’s office to investigate this particular signing,” Jim Bowden, formerly the GM of the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals and currently an analyst with CBS Sports and The Athletic, told Foul Territory. “There were several front offices that believed there was a pre-cut deal between the Dodgers and Roki Sasaki before this process started.”

Former players also added to the rumors.

Dallas Keuchel, a teammate of Sasaki’s in Japan last season and 2017 World Series champion with the Houston Astros, publicly claimed that there was already a plan in place. “I heard some rumblings about a done deal with the Dodgers — you know, having a plan for him,” Keuchel told the New York Post in November.

Despite the allegations from front offices, players, and fans, MLB concluded that the Dodgers had followed the rules. Every team interested in Sasaki was given the same opportunity to present their case and submit materials for consideration. The process was fair for all 22 teams that reached out.

“There were some accusations, allegations, all of them false, made about predetermined deals, things like that,” Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, said at the Winter Meetings. “However, MLB rightly wanted to make sure this was going to be a fair and level playing field for everyone. So they did their due diligence and interviewed numerous parties ahead of time to make sure that was the case. And they wanted to make sure that Roki would most likely — while he would have the opportunity to sign in ‘24 — give himself the best opportunity to get the best deal.”

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