The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes have ended, as the NPB fireballer chose to sign with World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers. Sasaki was unveiled on Wednesday as the latest addition to an already stacked pitching rotation that features Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
On the eponymous Nothing Personal with David Samson, the former Miami Marlins president of baseball operations blasted Sasaki and the Dodgers front office for seemingly withholding the truth behind the young phenom's rationale for agreeing to sign with the team.
"Every time I've met with a player or an agent (and its hundreds of hundreds of times), not one time did front office stability come up," said Samson.
The visibly puzzled former executive alluded to the reasoning Sasaki gave during his first press conference as a Los Angeles Dodger. The 23-year-old, through his interpreter Will Ireton, said that the number one reason he chose to sign with the L.A. outfit was because of the front office stability.
That drew the ire of Samson, who questioned the rationale behind who encouraged Roki Sasaki to state the peculiar reason.
"Why is it that there's a player who would be coached to say that? It doesn't pass the smell test to me. It is true that Ohtani and Yamamoto were involved in the recruitment of Sasaki. It's not nefarious to have both players in the recruitment meeting.
"What's the problem with the honest approach? What's the problem with just saying: 'I want to be with the Dodgers'? What's wrong with saying: 'It made more sense for my career to be with the Dodgers'? And then just give a little wink and be on your way."
David Samson questions Dodgers' thought process during Roki Sasaki's press conference
In the same podcast, ex-Marlins executive David Samson brought up the long-term implications of the Dodgers' unusual way of "coaching" Roki Sasaki during his first appearance for the team.
Samson was wary of Roki Sasaki's reason of "front office stability" as the driving force of his decision to sign with the Dodgers as he questioned the decision of the squad of letting Sasaki explain that reasoning during the presser:
"Do they think that the commissioner's office and the other teams don't know what's going on? The question is how much will be made public and how big of an impact will it have on next year's collective bargaining agreement."
The former Marlins executive concluded that even though the Dodgers went on a conservative approach in terms of their response, fans and neutrals' view of the situation remain steadfast and won't favor them.