Dodgers Superstar Opens Up on Roki Sasaki Signing

The Los Angeles Dodgers have had an unbelievable offseason so far.

With reinforcements made on offense like bringing back Teoscar Hernández and signing contributors like Michael Conforto and Korea Baseball Organization's Hyeseong Kim, the National League's second-best offense from a year ago is arguably even better.

Over on the pitching side of things, there has been equal, if not better, improvement than the offense. Cy Young award winner Blake Snell was signed, Blake Treinen was brought back, and relievers Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates were signed within two days of each other.

Not to mention, the pitchers returning from injury include Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin, who will also be added to this lethal rotation and bullpen.

Probably the most noteworthy of all, though, is the signing of the most fascinating MLB free agent in years, Roki Sasaki.

Sasaki is a 23-year-old phenom who was not able to be traditionally signed due to his age and lack of professional experiences. Since he is under 25 and has less than six years of service time, he was limited to being pursued via each team's international bonus pool, ranging from about $5.1 to $7.5 million.

The two main wrinkles that stood in the way for L.A. were their league-low $5.1 million in the pool, and a 'homework assignment' given to interested teams by Sasaki and his agent.

The now revealed assignment was why Sasaki's velocity decreased last season.

It was presumably aced by Dodgers' pitching coach Mark Prior and crew, but Los Angeles was reportedly outbid by the San Diego Padres who offered a little over $10 million.

In the second Sasaki meeting, this time at co-owner Peter Guber's Bel Air mansion, current Dodger stars like Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman were there to talk with Sasaki and get him comfortable in what his future clubhouse would be like.

Whatever happened at Guber's mansion worked as Sasaki announced his intention to sign with L.A. the next day.

Betts talked to reporters in Jpaan recently about his interactions with Sasaki and his plans for him in 2025.

"I'm going to get him out of his shell," Betts said. "I'm going to laugh and joke and get him to really embrace the American culture. I think that will really help him to be the best pitcher on the planet. Because I think that everyone believes he can definitely be the best pitcher on the planet."

With such high praise, Sasaki has the numbers to back it up. In four seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, Sasaki went 29-15 and an ERA of 2.10 in 394.2 innings pitched.

His 505 strikeouts to only 88 walks during that stretch are a great sign he'll have tons of success as he makes his way to the Dodgers organization.