Sasaki: Joining Dodgers ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ chance
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Alden Gonzalez
LOS ANGELES — Roki Sasaki donned a No. 11 Los Angeles Dodgers jersey atop a makeshift stage Wednesday afternoon and called it the culmination of “an incredibly difficult decision.”
When Sasaki was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines in the middle of December — a development evaluators have spent years anticipating — 20 major league teams formally expressed interest. Eight of those clubs were granted initial meetings at the L.A. offices of Sasaki’s agency, Wasserman. Three were then named finalists in the middle of January, prompting official visits to their ballparks. And in the end, to practically nobody’s surprise, it was the Dodgers who won out.
The Dodgers had long been deemed favorites for Sasaki, so much so that many viewed the pairing as an inevitability. In the wake of that actually materializing, scouts and executives throughout the industry have privately complained about being dragged through what they perceived as a process that already had a predetermined outcome. Some have also expressed concern that the homework assignment Sasaki gave to each of the eight teams he initially met with, asking them to present their ideas for how to recapture the life of his fastball, saw them provide proprietary information without ultimately having a reasonable chance to get him.
Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, admitted he has heard some of those complaints over the past handful of days.
“I’ve tried to be an open book and as transparent as possible with all the teams in the league,” said Wolfe, who has vehemently denied claims of a predetermined deal from the onset. “I answer every phone call, I answer every question. This goes back to before the process even started. Every team I think would tell you that I told each one of them where they stood throughout the entire process, why they got a meeting, why they didn’t get a meeting, why other teams got a meeting. I tried to do my best to do that. He was only going to be able to pick one.”
Sasaki, 23, is considered one of the world’s most promising pitching prospects, with a triple-digit fastball and an otherworldly splitter. Through four seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, Sasaki posted a 2.10 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP and 505 strikeouts against just 88 walks in 394⅔ innings. But he has openly acknowledged to teams that he is not yet fully formed, and many of those who followed him in Japan believed his priority would be to go to the team that had the best chance of making him better.
Few would argue that the Dodgers don’t fit that description. Their vast resources, recent run of success and sizeable footprint in Japan made them an obvious fit for Sasaki, but it was their track record of pitching development that landed them one of the sport’s most intriguing prospects.
“His goal is to be the first Japanese pitcher to win a Cy Young, and he definitely possesses the ability to do that,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “We’re excited to partner with him.”
Sasaki will join a star-studded rotation headlined by Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, decorated Japanese countrymen who signed free agent deals totaling more than $1 billion in December 2023. The Dodgers went on to win the ensuing World Series, then doubled down on one of the sport’s richest, most talented rosters.
Over the past three months, they’ve signed starting pitcher Blake Snell for $182 million, extended utility man Tommy Edman for $74 million, given reliever Tanner Scott $72 million, brought back corner outfielder Teoscar Hernandez for $66 million, added another corner outfielder in Michael Conforto ($17 million) and struck a surprising deal with Korean middle infielder Hyeseong Kim ($12.5 million). At some point, they’ll finalize a contract with another back-end reliever in Kirby Yates and will bring back longtime ace Clayton Kershaw.
But Sasaki, who has drawn the attention of Dodgers scouts since he was throwing 100-mph fastballs in high school, was the ultimate prize.
“As I transition to the major leagues, I am deeply honored so many teams reached out to me, especially considering I haven’t achieved much in Japan,” Sasaki, speaking through an interpreter, said in front of hundreds of media members. “It makes me feel more focused than ever. I am truly grateful to all the team officials who took the time to meet with me during this process.
“I spent the past month both embracing and reflecting on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to choose a place purely based on where I can grow as a player the most,” Sasaki continued. “Every organization helped me in its own way, and it was an incredibly difficult decision to choose just one. I am fully aware that there are many different opinions out there. But now that I have decided to come here, I want to move forward with the belief that the decision I made is the best one, trust in those who believed in my potential and (have) conviction in the goals that I set for myself.”
Major League Baseball heard complaints from rival teams about a prearranged deal between Sasaki’s side and the Dodgers before he was posted, prompting an investigation “to ensure the protocol agreement had been followed,” a league official said in a statement. MLB found no evidence, prompting Sasaki to be included as part of the 2025 international signing class.
Because he is under 25 years old and spent less than six seasons in NPB, Sasaki was made available as an international amateur, his earnings restricted to teams’ signing-bonus pools. The Dodgers gave him $6.5 million, which constitutes the vast majority of their allotment, and will control Sasaki’s rights until he attains the six years of service time required for free agency. Sasaki said his immediate goal is to “beat the competition and make sure I do get a major league contract.”
Sasaki combined to throw barely more than 200 innings over the past two years and is expected to be handled carefully in the United States. The Dodgers won’t set a strict innings limit for him in 2025 but will deploy a traditional six-man rotation, which also makes sense with Ohtani returning as a two-way player. The Dodgers’ initial meeting with Sasaki saw them tout the way their training staff, pitching coaches and performance-science group work in harmony. In their second, they brought out Ohtani, Edman, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Sasaki’s catcher, Will Smith, in hopes of wooing him. And in the end, it was Ohtani who broke the news to the Dodgers’ front-office members, letting them know they landed Sasaki in a text before his agent could get around to calling.
Friedman described it as “pure excitement.” Many others, however, rolled their eyes at what they felt was inevitable. Wolfe denied that, saying, “I don’t believe [the Dodgers] was always the destination.” But then he went on to describe how prevalent the Dodgers are in Japan. Their games are on every morning and rebroadcast later at night. Dodgers-specific shops outfit stadiums throughout the country.
“They’re everywhere,” Wolfe said. “And I think that all the players and fans see the Dodgers every day, so it’s always in their mind because of Ohtani and Yamamoto. But when (Sasaki) came over here, he came with a very open mind.”
BUFFALO, N.Y. — In his first full day as Sabres general manager, Jarmo Kekalainen pointed to Buffalo’s depth of talent for giving him every reason to believe the team can climb back into playoff contention.
For that to happen, Kekalainen on Tuesday placed an emphasis on building team character and consistency — qualities the Sabres have been criticized for lacking during their NHL-record 14-year playoff drought.
“I think character is the biggest part of talent … and that’s the talent we need to focus on,” said Kekalainen, who initially was hired by Buffalo in May to serve as a senior adviser.
“There’s been games this year where we looked like it was going to be easy, and then we lost because we got outworked. That’s unacceptable,” he added. “That’s going to be something that we’re going to focus on each and every day, because the talent, the skill alone is not going to get you wins.”
Kekalainen’s message was not so much groundbreaking or different from the four GMs who preceded him over the course of Buffalo’s drought. And they include Kevyn Adams, who was fired on Monday after five-plus seasons on the job.
Adams gets credit for rebuilding the team through a youth movement that led to Buffalo parting ways with Jack Eichel (traded to Vegas) and Sam Reinhart (Florida).
Missing during Adams’ tenure was sustained success. After topping out with 91 points in 2022-23, when they missed the playoffs by one win, the Sabres have regressed, finishing with 84 points the next season and 79 last year.
“[Fans] have every right to be frustrated,” Kekalainen said. “[But] we have some really good core pieces here. We’re close. Now we just have to take the next step.”
The 59-year-old from Finland distanced himself from Adams, who a year ago blamed high taxes and cold winters as reasons for having difficulty attracting and retaining talent.
“Winning hockey games is the most important ingredient,” Kekalainen said, drawing on the 11 years he spent as the Columbus Blue Jackets GM. “Everybody wants to play for a winner.”
Kekalainen said he has full authority in overseeing the hockey department and has owner Terry Pegula’s approval to spend to the salary cap limit.
Kekalianen’s observations, as much as his hiring, provide the Sabres a reset in a season they’ve spent yo-yoing between demoralizing skids and encouraging winning stretches.
At 14-14-4, Buffalo opened the day sitting tied for last with the Columbus in the Eastern Conference standings but only six points back of the eighth-place Boston Bruins. And after splitting a six-game road trip, Buffalo is riding its first three-game winning streak of the season.
With the exception of meeting with Kekalainen on Tuesday, players had the past two days off, and resume practice Wednesday, a day before hosting Philadelphia.
Kekalainen didn’t rule out making changes, while backing coach Lindy Ruff by saying: “Lindy’s résumé speaks for itself … And I’ve really enjoyed my time so far with Lindy.” Ruff, the team’s winningest coach, is in the second season of his second stint with Buffalo.
One change on the horizon will have Buffalo moving ahead with two rather than three goalies, though the decision on who will be the odd man out can wait, with Colten Ellis on injured reserve. Ellis, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon must first clear waivers before being demoted.
Kekalainen also placed a priority on resuming negotiations to re-sign top-line forward Alex Tuch, who is in the final year of his contract.
As for other potential changes, Kekalainen said he’s still evaluating. His promotion came after spending last week in Finland to be with his father, who died on Sunday following a lengthy illness.
“This has been quite a roller-coaster of emotions for me this weekend. So I’m just starting today,” he said.
Kekalainen is Buffalo’s 10th general manager, and first with past GM experience since Scotty Bowman held the job from 1979 to 1987. And based on Kekalainen’s track record in Columbus, he brings a no-nonsense approach and is unafraid to make bold moves.
In the summer of 2022, Kekalainen signed the late Johnny Gaudreau in free agency. In 2019, he stood pat by not trading top stars Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene and Sergei Bobrovsky to keep his roster intact for the playoffs, despite eventually losing all three in free agency that summer.
“Over the last seven months, he’s shown to me that he is capable of leading our organization into the future,” Pegula said while introducing Kekalainen. “He’s made bold moves in the past … and just has a confidence that I believe will help our organization.”
Kekalainen said the one thing he won’t do is cut corners simply to make the playoffs and end the drought.
“I told the players to forget about the 14-years thing that’s kind of hanging around like a black cloud. And I’m going to do the same thing,” he said. “I’m not going to sacrifice the ultimate goal for the sake of making the playoffs and then not having any sustainability for our goal as a team to take the next step.”
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