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Rōki Sasaki announced on Instagram Friday that he will sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
According to The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya, Sasaki’s signing bonus is worth $6.5 million.
Robert Murray @ByRobertMurray
Roki Sasaki has signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he announced. <a href=”https://t.co/VaACx1nZKa”>pic.twitter.com/VaACx1nZKa</a>
Shortly after the news was announced, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel reported the Dodgers traded Dylan Campbell to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for international bonus pool money.
The 23-year-old pitching sensation was a breakout star to North American baseball fans during Japan’s run to the gold medal at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He had a 3.52 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 7.2 innings over two starts.
After some uncertainty if Sasaki would even become available to MLB teams this offseason, the Chiba Lotte Marines announced on Nov. 9 they would be posting the two-time NPB All-Star.
The biggest question after that initial announcement was when Sasaki would be posted. If he became available before the 2024 international signing period ended on Dec. 15, his signing bonus would be limited to roughly $2.5 million.
If Sasaki was classified as a 2025 international free agent when the signing period begins on Jan. 15, he would have been able to receive around $7 million in bonus money.
Regardless of when Sasaki became available, the fact that it would only cost all 30 teams a fraction of what he could earn as a true free agent meant everyone was at least going to make a play for his services.
At his best, Sasaki’s arsenal includes a fastball that averages around 99 mph and has touched 103.
FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen noted in August that Sasaki’s velocity during the 2024 season was down, with his fastball averaging 96.7 mph and a swing-and-miss rate of just 12 percent compared to 24 percent in 2023.
Longenhagen also wrote that Sasaki missed two months in 2024 with an unspecified arm injury. That is a significant concern that teams will monitor closely, but the overall upside for a player his age is tremendous.
Sasaki has No. 1 starter stuff when he’s at full strength, so this is still a tremendous deal for the Dodgers going into the 2025 season.
If there is any team that can navigate around a pitcher with tremendous stuff even though he might have an injury concern, it’s the Dodgers. They just won a World Series despite having just two pitchers in the regular season throw at least 100 innings.
Those pitchers were Gavin Stone and Tyler Glasnow, who didn’t pitch in the postseason because of injuries. The Dodgers also made it through October without Clayton Kershaw, James Paxton and Bobby Miller.
Manager Dave Roberts would certainly prefer not to have to deal with all of those injuries, but he found a way to make it work. He got help for 2025 earlier in the offseason when the Dodgers signed two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to a five-year, $182 million contract.
Sasaki gives an already-loaded Dodgers roster yet another star player they can plug in and expect great things from. He joins other former NPB stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Los Angeles.
As long as Sasaki stays healthy, the Dodgers will probably have one of the best rotations in MLB next season on top of already having the best lineup.
Good luck to all 29 other teams.
