MLB Teams Used Kevin Durant Reference to Try to Lure Roki Sasaki Away From Dodgers

The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes have ended, but it's interesting to learn what went on behind the scenes throughout the free agency saga for Japanese sensation.

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MLB insider Jeff Passan revealed some teams used a sports comparison to try and lure Sasaki away from the reigning World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"While some teams in meetings asked if Sasaki wanted to be Kevin Durant or Michael Jordan -- to join a superteam or help build one -- the allure of the Dodgers was impossible to ignore," Passan wrote.

NBA All-Star Kevin Durant has earned the reputation for joining NBA superteams in order to win a ring. Durant joined the Golden State Warriors at the peak of their dynasty and won two NBA championships with the team.

Durant then joined the Brooklyn Nets and currently plays for the Phoenix Suns, with the hope that he earns another ring on superteams.

Baseball clubs used Durant to entice Sasaki toward their team, where he could be the face of an MLB organization. He would be the headline. He would be the star.

But Sasaki didn't select a team based on where he could be baseball's biggest star, he chose an organization purely based on where he could grow the most. And that team happened to be the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"I spent the past month both embracing and reflecting on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to choose a place purely based on where I can grow as a player the most," Sasaki said, through team interpreter Will Ireton. "Every organization helped me in its own way, and it was an incredibly difficult decision to choose just one.

"I had the opportunity to speak to a lot of teams, and they had a lot of appealing features. But overall when I looked at the general consensus, I thought that the Dodgers were at the top."

Roki Sasaki said the No. 1 thing that stood out to him about the Dodgers was the "stability of the front office."

Shohei Ohtani has a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave if Andrew Friedman isn't there.

Clearly, Sasaki noticed the impressive front office, too. pic.twitter.com/XA1SQ03d80
— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) January 22, 2025

"I think the No. 1 thing that stood out was the stability of the front office," Sasaki added.

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