On Friday night, Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki took to his Instagram account to make a big announcement regarding his future. The 23-year-old informed that he was joining the Los Angeles Dodgers. A “homework assignment” given by him and his agent Joel Wolfe to the Dodgers and other MLB teams who were in his pursuit, has now come up.
After the end of the 2024 season, Sasaki expressed his desire to move to the MLB. At that time, at least eight teams were interested in bringing him in with the Dodgers and the San Diego Padres considered as early favorites.
Over the last two months, several teams made their pitches to Sasaki and his agent Wolfe. As per reports from Alden Gonzalez of ESPN, Sasaki and Wolfe assigned a “homework assignment” to the teams.
Despite having a stellar season with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the NPB, Sasaki had a drop in his game. His fastball velocity had gone down a bit. During the meetings with the team, they asked them to diagnose why this happened and how they will make sure that this thing does not repeat itself.
Leading up to his first round of meetings last month, Sasaki provided his suitors — believed to be at least eight teams — with what he called a homework assignment. All of them had the same task: To diagnose why his fastball velocity dropped last season in Japan, and to outline their plan to ensure it never happens again.
Aiden Gonzalez wrote
Roki Sasaki’s homework assignment to the teams that met with him? “Why was my fastball velocity down last year and how can you ensure that never happens to me again?” pic.twitter.com/CQo7JYejcI
— 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮✞ 💙🤍❤️ (@TrolleyDodgahs) January 18, 2025
A few weeks ago, MLB analyst Xavier Scruggs spoke on how the Dodgers were the perfect place for him. While speaking on the MLB Network Radio, he pointed out the Dodgers’ pitching development system and how this could help him improve his game. He would label their pitching lab as “top tier”.
“The #Dodgers development system and their pitching lab is top-tier.”@Xavier_Scruggs on why the Dodgers should be the clear No. 1 option for Rōki Sasaki:
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) December 30, 2024
5-time NBA Champion Magic Johnson welcomes Roki Sasaki to LA Dodgers
The news of Roki Sasaki joining the Los Angeles Dodgers has left the internet shaken up. Several fans have questioned this move of him. While the fans remain upset to see him join the Dodgers, 5-time NBA Champion Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr. is pleased with this development. He would take to his X account to welcome him to the team.
Roki Sasaki and Magic Johnson (Image via X)The former Los Angeles Lakers star currently serves as a minority owner of the Dodgers. In a post on X, the 65-year-old shared an image of him along with Sasaki. He would gift him an autographed Lakers jersey of his.
Welcome to Los Angeles and the World Champion Los Angeles @Dodgers Roki Sasaki! It’s a great day to be a Dodger fan!
Magic Johnson on X
Welcome to Los Angeles and the World Champion Los Angeles @Dodgers Roki Sasaki! It’s a great day to be a Dodger fan! 🙌🏾 pic.twitter.com/UtExlQEmP0
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 18, 2025
Johnson so far is the only member of the Dodgers organization to officially announce the signing of Sasaki. The ownership group is likely to announce his signing next week once the deal is fully finalized.
Sasaki will now join a pitching rotation that already consists of some big names in the MLB. He will join Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow. Apart from that, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin are also expected to be in the mix, making the Dodgers rotation a scary prospect to go up against in the 2025 campaign.
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