Los Angeles Dodgers Win the Roki Sasaki Sweepstakes

When it was announced that Roki Sasaki would be posted this winter, before he turned 25 years old, there was excitement around Major League Baseball.

By signing now, Sasaki is considered a minor league free agent and is limited to being signed through a team’s international bonus pool, significantly capping what he can expect to make on this deal.

In theory, this opened Sasaki to be signed by any of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball, with small market teams being able to get in on the bidding. And yet, we all wondered if Sasaki was destined to land with one team in particular.

The same team that already features two superstars from his native country of Japan.

Sure enough, what we all anticipated has become the reality, as the Los Angeles Dodgers have won the bidding for Roki Sasaki’s services, adding the young phenom to an already-loaded starting rotation.

How Much Will He Make with the Dodgers?

It has yet to be reported what the Dodgers are giving Sasaski in terms of a signing bonus, but being subject to the international bonus pool system, he can only make what is available in their pool.

The Dodgers only have a little over $5 million in their bonus pool currently, but they could always sweeten the pot by trading for up to 60% of that amount acquiring money in $250K increments from other teams.

Sasaski has until January 23rd to officially sign, so the Dodgers could add to their pool before that date to give him as much as possible.

In-season, Sasaki will be part of the arbitration system like any other promoted minor league player, where he will make the minimum for the first few years of his career, before hitting arbitration once he’s three years away from free agency.

Career Trajectory

Since the 2023 World Baseball Classic, baseball fans around the world have known the name Roki Sasaki. Fans in Japan have known him much longer for very clear reasons…

He debuted professionally in NPB at 19 years old during the 2021 season and swiftly became one of the best pitchers in Japan. After five games spent at the equivalent of the minor league level, Sasaki pitched to a 2.27 ERA with 68 strikeouts across his first 11 official NPB starts.

He blossomed further into a superstar at 20 years old with a 2.02 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, and an absurd 7.52 K/BB ratio in his second professional season. The blend of command, stuff, and sheer dominance is hard to find in any pitcher, nonetheless such a young one.

Somehow, he got even better the following season with a 1.78 ERA and 0.75 WHIP in 2023, although he did miss some time with an injury.

Team Fit with the Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers have an absolutely loaded starting rotation, having already added Blake Snell through MLB free agency earlier this offseason.

Snell joined a rotation that will bring back Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow from their 2024 rotation, along with Shohei Ohtani, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin, who are all coming off Tommy John surgery.

Sasaki will figure somewhere in the mix of a six-man rotation, with the Dodgers having the ability to protect all of their starting pitchers to get them through the 2025 season. They could even opt to keep Sasaki in the minor leagues at times to manage his workload if they choose.

The Dodgers did not need Roki Sasaki by any stretch of the imagination, but you can never have enough pitching. Particularly front-line pitching.

Sasaki also furthers the Dodgers’ standing as being Japan’s team, with three of the country’s biggest stars joining forces to create a dynasty in Los Angeles.

The rich get richer in this case, as the Dodgers could have as many as five true aces in their rotation next season.

Only time will tell how good Sasaki will be, but if he comes as advertised, the Dodgers just got even scarier and are even more of a favorite to repeat as World Series champions.