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After a long and dragged out battle, Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers were successful in landing NPB phenom Roki Sasaki. The young fireballer has finally made his decision after being pursued by more than a handful of major league teams, as he elected to sign for the reigning champions.
In an article by The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya, Dennis Lin, Patrick Mooney, Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon, Dodgers insider Noah Camras shared that it was Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani who was leading the charge for Sasaki's signing.
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"Shohei Ohtani was "driving the bus" in the Dodgers' pursuit of Roki Sasaki, according to The Athletic." - @ Noah Camras
Although several major league executives tried to up their bid and accomodate the demands of the young star, there was always a sense of the Dodgers snagging him as reported on the article. And on the frontlines of it all, was Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani captained Samurai Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, a team which also featured the young Roki Sasaki. However, there was always a feeling that another entity from the NL West was lurking, namely, the San Diego Padres spearheaded by Yu Darvish.
Darvish is considered by many top mentor amongst a generation of pitchers from the Land of the Rising Sun. After all, the two-time Pacific League MVP featured for several MLB squads that made spirited runs in the postseason. It was central in the Padres' pitch to Sasaki in the presentation that included team leader Manny Machado — and a pitching session at Petco Park.
However, it was still Ohtani's pitching (no pun intended) power that drew Sasaki to Los Angeles. A part of the pitch that the Dodgers made was the city's Japanese-American population. Moreover, the world champions centered their presentation around the team's continuous success and their development of young pitchers.
The team also went as far having part owner Magic Johnson award Sasaki with a signed jersey — given Sasaki's love for the game of basketball.
When the dust settled, Roki Sasaki's agent Joel Wolfe was supposed to be the one who would have broken the news to the successful bidder. However, the Dodgers' higher-ups got word first by way of text message from the man who oversaw the entire process:
"We got him," said Ohtani.
Roki Sasaki's 2023 World Baseball Classic performance
After years of NPB dominance, young fireballer Roki Sasaki was introduced to a broader baseball audience when he appeared in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
With Team Japan's surplus in all positions, Sasaki was tapped to anchor the backend of the starting rotation that featured Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Shota Imanaga.
The young star didn't disappoint, as he wasa surgical during his first start against Czechia. Sasaki earned the win after pitching 3 and 2/3 innings of one-run ball with two hits, two walks, and eight punch-outs.
His next start was touted as the best game played in World Baseball Classic history. Japan edged out Mexico in the semis at the LoanDepot Park in a 6-5 thriller.
Although he failed to capture the win, Sasaki pitched a respectable four innings of three-run ball on five hits with three strikeouts against a high-octane Mexican offense that featured Randy Arozarena, Rowdy Tellez and Alex Verdugo.
