Shohei Ohtani celebrates Roki Sasaki joining Dodgers' star-studded pitching rotation ft. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell & more 

The Los Angeles Dodgers managed to sideline the San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays to emerge as the winners in the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes. The 23-year-old starting pitcher announced his decision publicly through Instagram, although the Dodgers have not formally confirmed the deal as of yet.

Shohei Ohtani posted a couple of updates on his Instagram story welcoming Roki Sasaki to the LA Dodgers as he joins a vaunted starting rotation of the reigning World Series champions, which features Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell.

(Image Source: @shoheiohtani/Instagram)

The first upload from Ohtani was a reposted picture of a Dodgers hat hung upon a folded seat inside Dodger Stadium that Sasaki used while announcing his decision on Instagram. The second update was an image of Sasaki that MLB.com used to broadcast the news of the Japanese phenom heading to the Dodgers.

(Image Source: @shoheiohtani/Instagram)

As a result, Sasaki becomes the fifth high-profile starting pitcher that the LA Dodgers have signed to a long-term deal in the past two off-seasons.

The club signed Ohtani to a massive 10-year, $700 million contract in December 2023 before adding Yoshinobu Yamamoto to their rotation on a 12-year, $325 million deal a couple of weeks later.

That same month, they had previously traded for Tyler Glasnow from the Tampa Bay Rays and signed him to a five-year, $136.5 million extension. This December, the Dodgers acquired his former Rays teammate and two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell on a five-year, $182 million contract.

Dodgers will pay Roki Sasaki a minor league salary in 2025

Roki Sasaki becomes the third Japanese pitcher in the Dodgers rotation for 2025 (Image Source: Imagn)

Although Roki Sasaki is rated among the best starting pitchers in the free agent market this off-season, he will not get paid as such. Since he is under 25 years of age with less than six years of professional experience, Sasaki only qualified as an amateur international free agent.

Therefore, the LA Dodgers will only need to pay him a minor league salary for 2025, while they also have club control over the player's future for the next six years. Nevertheless, Sasaki does gain a substantial signing bonus of about $6.5 million, according to The Athletic.

With Roki Sasaki becoming the third Japanese superstar after Ohtani and Yamamoto to sign for the LA Dodgers in the past two years, the franchise has strengthened its fanbase even further in the baseball-mad nation.

As per CNN, more than 10 percent of the country tuned in to watch the team win the 2024 World Series, as the Fall Classic earned better TV ratings in Japan than in the US.