Roki Sasaki Opens Up on Free Agency, Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani Impact on Signing

Jan 21, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA;  Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki, center, attends the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Washington Wizards at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Jan 21, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki, center, attends the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Washington Wizards at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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Roki Sasaki is finally a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The 23-year-old phenom was introduced by Dodgers brass Wednesday afternoon at a news conference that took place at Dodger Stadium.

Various news outlets and media members watched intently as Sasaki donned a Dodgers jersey for the first time and answered many questions about his decision to ultimately join L.A. despite two-thirds of MLB reportedly showing interest when the right-hander was first posted.

Even though there were many great cities with great ball clubs, the Dodgers edge was undeniable in Sasaki's eyes.

“I had the opportunity to speak to a lot of teams and they have a lot of appealing features but overall when I looked at the general consensus I thought that the Dodgers were at the top," Sasaki said through interpreter Will Ireton.

Another major wrinkle of the Sasaki offseason was the 'unspecified homework assignment' him and agent Joel Wolfe assigned teams. When asked about the reasoning for assigning this, the 23-year-old spoke on having to quickly learn the thought processes and differences among MLB teams.

“Because it was gonna be limited time for me to be able to understand the differences among many teams, I just felt like this homework assignment would be a really good opportunity for me to find out how the teams think," Sasaki explained.

One of the three finalists for Sasaki, the San Diego Padres, have an ongoing ownership feud that many believe is hampering their efforts to sign free agents this offseason, whch they have yet to do. Sasaki spoke about the opposite reality with the Dodgers in their front office.

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

Not only is it a stable front office, but one that has already greatly improved a roster that just won their eighth World Series in franchise history.

Although revealing that having Japanese teammates wasn't a priority, Sasaki also noted that he is looking forward to playing with his World Baseball Classic teammates once again in Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

“It wasn’t a priority for me if there was or was not a Japanese player on a team as I was looking at all the teams," Sasaki said. "(But) being able to play with Ohtani and Yamamoto — both exceptional players — I’m looking forward to playing with them.”

He added: “I did want to check to make sure that a Japanese player would be embraced in the team and the city.”

With a thriving population of Japanese citizens living in Los Angeles — the most of any city outside of Japan — and, of course, having two Japan-born legends on the roster in Ohtani and Yamamoto, Sasaki will fit in perfectly with not just L.A. culture, but the winning precedent set by the defending champions.


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