Right-hander Roki Sasaki is the next big thing headed to the Major Leagues from Japan.
After a whirlwind tour of meetings with eight MLB teams, Sasaki announced via Instagram that he’s signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, choosing the reigning World Series champs over fellow finalists San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays.
Sasaki comes to the U.S. under international signing rules as a 23-year-old with four seasons of experience playing for the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball.
Much like Shohei Ohtani when he picked the Los Angeles Angels as his big-league destination in 2018, Sasaki’s big pay day will be ahead of him. Ohtani received a $2.31 million signing bonus and played for the minimum of $545,000 that season.
The big money in that deal was the $20 million posting fee the Angels paid the Nippon-Ham Fighters for Ohtani’s rights.
Like Ohtani, Sasaki will be tied to his team for six seasons before hitting full MLB free agency. It was at the end of that term with the Angels when Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers, $680 million of it deferred.
In contrast, last offseason Yoshinobu Yamamoto came over from Japan as a full-fledged free agent at 25 with seven years of experience pitching for the Orix Buffaloes. After a lengthy tour of his own, Yamamoto settled on a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers. Because of his status, the Dodgers didn’t have to pay a posting fee to the Buffaloes.
Sasaki will draw a posting fee similar to Ohtani’s.
The international bonus pool money varies by club, from $5.1 million to $7.5 million to sign all of their foreign players for this season. The pool changes based on numerous variables each year. The Dodgers had $5.2 million available to sign Sasaki, who will make $760,000 this season, the current MLB minimum. The Padres had $6.3 million.
Sasaki was 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 111 innings over 18 games for Chiba Lotte last season. For his four NPB seasons, he was 29-15 with a 2.10 ERA and 505 whiffs in 394 2/3 innings across 64 games.
In picking Los Angeles, he joins a Dodgers franchise that has a rich history of cultivating Japanese pitchers dating back to Hideo Nomo, who pitched in LA for seven seasons. He joins a staff replete with Yamamoto and Ohtani, the latter of whom is a two-way player expected to pitch again this season. Ohtani spent 2024 recovering from his second elbow surgery and played as a designated hitter only, winning the National League MVP. Ohtani tore the labrum in his left shoulder trying to steal second base during the World Series and has been spending the offseason rehabbing from surgery.
