Mets' NLCS Foe Dodgers Just Got Stronger With Roki Sasaki

The New York Mets' quest for another deep playoff run has gotten a lot harder.
Japanese phenom starting pitcher Roki Sasaki announced on his Instagram account on Friday that he is signing a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sasaki will now be joining a Dodgers rotation that already has the likes of Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and presumably Shohei Ohtani.
Roki Sasaki announced on his Instagram he'll be joining the Los Angeles Dodgers 🌟 pic.twitter.com/3siuaqmMKL
— MLB (@MLB) January 17, 2025
"I have signed a minor contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers," Sasaki wrote. "It was a very difficult decision, but I will do my best to make it the right decision when I look back after my baseball career.
"I want to slip my sleeve on the Dodgers uniform at the opening conference, thanking everyone who has supported me this far."
Despite Sasaki's known dominance and being a generational talent, his reasoning for signing a minor league contract was due to him being under 25 years old and spending less than six years in Nippon Professional Baseball.
The news of Sasaki joining the reigning World Series Champions shouldn't come as much of a surprise after SNY's Andy Martino reported earlier this week that both the Mets and New York Yankees were not expected to land the 23-year-old hurler.
Sasaki began his professional baseball career pitching for the Chiba Lotte Marines for four seasons, going 29-15 with a 2.10 ERA and 505 strikeouts in 394.2 innings pitched.
He was later posted by the Marines on November 8, 2024, and had until January 23 to sign with a major league club.
Sasaki will now join a Dodgers team that is likely the favorite to win or make it back to the Fall Classic, with his presence expected to make Los Angeles' rotation arguably the best in all of baseball.