lol
The great charade intrigue is over. After going through the motions of traditional free agency, Japanese ace Rōki Sasaki, to the surprise of no one, ended up with the team everyone has expected him to sign with for years: the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Sasaki, who was posted on December 15, was eligible to sign as part of the 2025 international free agency class on Wednesday, and needed to sign by the end of the month, announced on social media on Friday that he had, indeed, chosen the Dodgers. That’s been in the cards for years, though Sasaki went through the free agency process, fielding “homework” from 20 teams, holding meetings with executives and his agents, and at least giving the general appearance of being open to numerous teams. Among those teams were the San Francisco Giants, at one point listed as one of nine “finalists,” but graciously told before the signing period began that they would not be signing Sasaki. That allowed the Giants to move forward with their international commitments — which included signing arguably the best amateur free agent on the market, Josuar De Jesus González — without interruption or concern for holding money aside for Sasaki.
Many have criticized Sasaki’s free agency (or “free agency” as they would call it), saying that he long ago made up his mind to join the Dodgers, and this process was just for show. It does, admittedly, appear that way from the outside, though it’s not entirely clear why, as it’s never a secret that teams are making handshake agreements with international free agents (González, for instance, has been assumed to sign with the Giants for about two years, which no one has attempted to hide). Perhaps, because Sasaki was still technically under employment with the NPB’s Chiba Lotte Marines, Sasaki and the Dodgers were fearful that it would be considered tampering. Or perhaps he really did have an open mind to signing elsewhere.
Either way, the free-spending Dodgers — who have won at least 90 games in 11 consecutive full seasons, and 100 games in five of the last seven — now get arguably the best contract in all of baseball. Sasaki, who over the last three years had a 2.06 ERA with 437 strikeouts to just 72 walks in 331.1 innings, is considered one of the best pitchers on the planet. And because he isn’t yet 25 — he only just turned 23 — he was limited to signing the same deal as any international free agent. He’ll get paid a seven-figure signing bonus, then have three years making league minimum as a pre-arbitration player, before entering his three years of relatively cost-controlled arbitration.
The Dodgers rotation is now Sasaki, fellow countrymen Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, and Tyler Glasnow, with many still expecting Clayton Kershaw to re-sign with Los Angeles.
How fun for all of us.