Dodgers' Andrew Friedman reveals when Roki Sasaki recruitment started fasterkora.xyz - faster kora
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Dodgers’ Andrew Friedman reveals when Roki Sasaki recruitment started fasterkora.xyz

To the chagrin of the rest of the baseball world, the reigning World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers won the intense Roki Sasaki sweepstakes in the MLB offseason. The Dodgers, already boasting a stellar roster before Sasaki decided to take his talents to Hollywood, however, had eyed the Japanese star pitcher a long time ago, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

“Dodgers president Andrew Friedman said they began scouting Roki Sasaki six years ago when he was in high school,” Nightengale shared in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Roki Sasaki was already turning the heads of Dodgers, other MLB clubs in high school

Andrew Friedman, President of baseball operations and manager Dave Roberts assist Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki (11) with his jersey during a press conference at Dodger Stadium.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Dodgers, though, weren’t the only MLB team Sasaki had gotten attention from during his time at Ofunato High School. An unnamed big league club was said to be interested in signing Sasaki back in 2019, according to Kyodo News.

Related Los Angeles Dodgers NewsArticle continues below

“A source with one major league club told Kyodo News this spring it had hoped to sign Sasaki at the end of this year. However, that would have required the pitcher to drop out of the summer tournament, and the American team was told the youngster was unwilling to do so.”

Whether it was the Dodgers or not who expressed that intention to ink Sasaki to a deal six years ago, they still got what they wanted at the end of the day. Sasaki chose to play for the Dodgers, a team that already has Japanese superstars Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani. Apart from the Dodgers, the Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers and the Chicago Cubs were among the other clubs believed to be in the running to win Sasaki’s nod.

“I am deeply honored that many teams reached out to me with such enthusiasm especially since I haven’t achieved much in Japan,” Sasaki said via a translator during his introductory press conference with the Dodgers, per Beth Harris of the Associated Press (h/t Yahoo Sports).

Sasaki, who just turned 23 years old in November, comes to the Dodgers with six years of club control. He will be pocketing a rookie scale salary in his first season with Los Angeles, excluding the $6.5 million signing bonus.


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