FILE – Japan’s Roki Sasak pitches during a Pool B game against the Czech Republic at the World Baseball Classic at the Tokyo Dome, Japan, March 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
Japanese prodigy Roki Sasaki announced on Friday he is joining the Los Angeles Dodgers following a frenzied Major League Baseball battle for the coveted pitcher’s signature.
Sasaki, 23, confirmed he would join up with compatriots and Dodgers stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a brief statement on Instagram.
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“I have signed a minor contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers,” Sasaki wrote on Instagram beneath a photo of a Dodgers baseball cap hanging on a seat at Dodger Stadium.
READ: MLB investigates to ensure no early Roki Sasaki deal in place
The race to snag Sasaki had become one of the dominant sub-plots of the baseball off-season with a slew of clubs in the hunt for the Chiba Lotte Marines and Japan star.
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The Dodgers, the reigning World Series champions, had long been considered front-runners to secure Sasaski’s services, given their huge popularity in Japan due to the presence of superstar Ohtani and pitcher Yamamoto.
The New York Mets, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays were all reported to have held meetings with the player and his managers.
READ: MLB teams making pitches to Japanese star Roki Sasaki
US media reported this week that three clubs were left in the running to sign Sasaki — the Dodgers, the Padres and Blue Jays.
“It was a very difficult decision but I will do my best to make it the right decision when I look back on my baseball career,” Sasaki wrote on Instagram.
A livewire righthander, Sasaki has become renowned as one of the most talented pitchers in world baseball with a fastball that routinely clocks 100mph or more.
He has a 29-15 win-loss record in his professional career in Japan, and pitched a perfect game in April 2022 where he hurled a record 13 consecutive strikeouts.
He was also a key part of Japan’s triumphant 2023 World Baseball Classic campaign, where Ohtani and Yamamoto were team-mates.
The next level
FILE–Hundreds of fans crowd together and cheer as members of Japan’s national baseball team (L) arrive, including prodigy pitcher Roki Sasaki (bottom L). (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
Sasaki’s arrival in California gives the Dodgers a potentially fearsome pitching rotation as they attempt to defend their World Series crown this season following October’s victory over the New York Yankees.
The Dodgers have already acquired two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell this off-season, and also aim to have Ohtani pitching this season following his recovery from elbow surgery, together with Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and veteran Clayton Kershaw.
Sasaki’s agent, Josh Wolfe, said last month the young pitcher was determined to move to the majors in order to establish himself as one of the greatest players in baseball.
“I believe he realized in order to take it to the next level, he had to come here, play against the best players in the world every day and tap into all the resources that Major League teams have to help him become one of the best pitchers to ever not just come out of Nippon Professional Baseball, but to be one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball,” Wolfe said.
Sasaki’s emergence as one of the most talented young players in world baseball has come against a backdrop of tragedy.
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The pitcher’s father and grandparents died in the tsunami that followed the 2011 Japan earthquake, the disaster sweeping away his family’s home.
