MLB analyst shoots down Roki Sasaki - Los Angeles Dodgers handshake deal allegations

The Los Angeles Dodgers ended as the winners of the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes after the Japanese pitcher was courted by a number of teams in this off-season.

A report from The Athletic revealed that the player had asked his suitors to identify why he had lost velocity over the past year. This has given rise to speculations that Sasaki had already agreed to sign with the Dodgers but wanted to extract some trade secrets from their rivals with his very unusual task for those teams.

Former MLB infielder Trevor Plouffe did not give any credence to the allegations of a pre-contractual agreement between Roki Sasaki and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He feels the 23-year-old right-hander would not waste his time by being part of such an elaborate plan of espionage, especially when he's in the middle of the most crucial phase of his young career.

Trevor Plouffe had a nine-year major league career that he spent primarily with the Minnesota Twins. Plouffe presently is a co-host for the Baseball Today podcast for Jomboy Media. He offered his perspective on the alleged handshake deal between Roki Sasaki and the Dodgers during the program on Monday. [16:23 - 25:15]

"I don't believe that whatsoever," Plouffe said. "I don't believe the Dodgers had some deal with him. Why would he waste his freaking time going out and putting on a Padres workout outfit, going and throwing for them? Is he a double-agent? Is he trying to get all the other team's secrets and bring them back to the Dodgers? Hey, I'll get on board with that theory, I guess. But why would you waste your time?

"That's a lot for a 23-year-old kid to do, who's changing his lifestyle completely," he added. "I don't buy that for one second."

Days prior to his signing, an unconfirmed video of Sasaki training in a San Diego Padres outfit had gone viral on social media.

That's what you're supposed to do: Trevor Plouffe on Roki Sasaki elimintaing prospective teams

Roki Sasaki recorded a perfect game for the Chiba Lotte Maries in April 2022 (Image Source: Imagn)

Trevor Plouffe does not feel the process that Roki Sasaki employed to eliminate prospective teams was due to a prior agreement with the Los Angeles Dodgers. On the contrary, Plouffe thinks it was the correct approach from Sasaki to decline teams after deciding he will not be joining them.

"What he was doing was unique; crossing teams off one by one," Plouffe said. "But that's what you're supposed to do before you sign somewhere. You're supposed to let the other teams know, "Hey, man, thank you for everything, but I'm going to go a different way." What was so shady about it?"

Sasaki is a two-time All-Star in the NPB and won the 2023 World Baseball Classic alongside his new Dodgers teammates Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.