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Nippon Professional Baseball’s ace, Roki Sasaki, is attracting several franchises for the next off-season. Eight MLB teams sent their reps to watch Sasaki’s latest start, as per Sports Mochi.
However, the Japanese star seems to be particularly interested in the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers have a history of signing Japanese players who have also contributed to the franchise’s success on the field.
According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, “several GMs” assume that Roki Sasaki has already made up his mind “to sign with the Dodgers after the season.”
In a recent tweet by Just Baseball sharing the news, several Blue Crew members shared their reactions.
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Some fans are happy, while others are labeling it as straight-up cheating and accusing the Dodgers of ‘tampering':
“Nah this gotta be tampering or sum lol."
“I can’t wait for this to happen so I can see more people crying lol. Already people are crying."
“So that’s tampering, right?”
“Honestly, why would any Japanese player sign with any other team after all the trash the fanbase talked about Ohtani and Yamamoto. Karma,” a comment reads.
“‘One GM’ is quoted as saying he assumes the Dodgers will land him because of this past off season. There’s been nothing from Sasaki himself,” another comment reads.
Other comments continued on X:
At just 22 years of age, Roki Sasaki is already considered one of the best pitchers in Japan. In the last three NPB seasons, Sasaki has maintained an impressive 2.00 ERA and threw a total of 283 ⅔ innings with 376 strikeouts.
“Every team in baseball wants this guy” - GM on Roki Sasaki’s high demand among MLB franchises
The Los Angeles Dodgers are highly expected to make a move on Roki Sasaki, potentially bringing him together with his fellow countrymen Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani.
Citing his demand, one unnamed GM was quoted by Bob Nightengale of USA Today as saying:
“Every team in baseball wants this guy but there’s no way he’s going anywhere else but the Dodgers. We all know it.”
If a deal does happen, then the Dodgers’ formidable rotation will include - Sasaki, Yamamoto, Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Bobby Miller and possibly Walker Buehler, making it an absolute powerhouse.
