With the U.S. interest in Rocky Sasaki (23), who declared his major league challenge, speculation continues that he will head to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
New York Post John Heyman quoted an insider on the 17th (Korea time) and said, “If I were a Japanese star player, I would want to go to the Dodgers.”
Heyman said, “I still believe that San Diego has a high possibility of recruiting Sasaki, but San Diego is not a popular team in Japan. Another insider said that Sasaki is the team to sign, with the Dodgers accounting for 98 percent and the San Diego Padres accounting for 2 percent.”
With the news that Sasaki will enter the U.S. stage through the posting system, the Dodgers immediately emerged as a leading candidate. This is because General Manager Andrew Friedman has consistently visited Japan to see Sasaki, and because he has players of the same nationality, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, it will be easy to adapt.
A flurry of controversies have continued in the U.S. If Sasaki becomes a Dodgers pitcher, he will be shadowed by Ohtani, and he will also have to compete with Yamamoto. Above all, he cannot receive much money because he is under 25 and has to sign an international promising player contract, and the Dodgers cannot afford to spend as much as 5,146,200 U.S. dollars, whose maximum amount is less than 7,555,500 dollars, which does not have much merit to Sasaki.
Despite this, the Dodgers is still on the list as a strong candidate. In other words, the aforementioned weaknesses are useless. Sports Illustrated also said, “San Diego has a chance. However, among the teams interested in Sasaki, the Dodgers is a powerful organization with the most resources,” and already has Ohtani and Yamamoto in the starting rotation. They were teammates with Sasaki in the WBC. Yu Darvish was also a teammate of Sasaki and a veteran of the Japanese national team, but the disadvantage is that he is 38 years old. I don’t think he can play anymore. If he goes to Dodgers, he can keep Ohtani and Yamamoto together for several years. Both Dodgers and San Diego have ties to Japan, but this could lead to a problem of preference for Sasaki,” adding to his drive to Dodgers.
Besides Sasaki, the Dodgers is also interested in Blake Snell, who played for the San Diego Padres. The Dodgers is also considering recruiting Corbin Burns and Max Fried. The media predicted that if the Dodgers signs Sasaki, the team will add another notable pitcher.
Which team will Sasaki choose between the Dodgers and San Diego Padres, which are rivals of the 먹튀검증 National League West? Or will he sign a contract with another team? Attention is focusing on.
