One conversation was reportedly “key” to the Los Angeles Dodgers landing 23-year-old Japanese stud Roki Sasaki.
The flame-throwing right-hander Sasaki broke the news Friday that he intends to sign with the Dodgers. The move comes just over a year after the Dodgers nabbed both Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in free agency.
Yamamoto was said to be a huge factor for the Dodgers in convincing Sasaki to sign with the team. According to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, Yamamoto’s “ability to articulate” in Sasaki’s native tongue how his first year with the Dodgers went was “instrumental” in the team’s recruitment.
"I was told in the last 24 hours that a really key conversation in the midst of the courtship of Sasaki came between Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki."
– @jonmorosi on #MLBTonight pic.twitter.com/xhvNShlAVH
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 18, 2025
One huge difference between Yamamoto and Sasaki is the amount of money involved in their negotiations with MLB teams. While Yamamoto signed a record-breaking deal with the Dodgers last offseason, Sasaki gave up a potential nine-figure deal to move stateside at 23.
Sasaki has been vocal about making the early jump in order to chase his dream of becoming one of the greatest pitchers ever.
Per Morosi, Yamamoto was able to detail the different ways in which the Dodgers made his transition to MLB easier. One example was Los Angeles’ frequent use of a sixth starter to give their pitchers some extra days off.
Yamamoto pitched in just 90.0 innings across 18 games during the regular season. Sasaki averaged just over 100 innings pitched in each of his last two seasons in Japan.
Sasaki is seemingly motivated by success on the mound, and the Dodgers have shown a proven track record to help him achieve it. Yamamoto was a living, breathing example of that.
