• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar

LA Sports Today

Los Angeles Sports News continuously updated

  • Football
    • Chargers
    • Rams
    • Wildcats
  • Baseball
    • Angels
    • Dodgers
  • Basketball
    • Clippers
    • Lakers
    • Sparks
  • Hockey
    • Ducks
    • Kings
  • Soccer
    • Angel City FC
    • Galaxy
    • Galaxy 2
    • LA FC
    • Orange County FC
  • College
    • UCLA
    • USC

Reaction & analysis of signing Roki Sasaki

January 18, 2025 by True Blue LA

World Baseball Classic Semifinals: Mexico v Japan
Photo by Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images

Roki Sasaki announced on Friday that he’ll join the Dodgers, doing so in an Instagram post. The Dodgers signed the 23-year-old pitcher from Japan for a reported $6.5 million signing bonus.

A pair of minor league outfielders were traded for the Dodgers to add international bonus pool space to bolster their offer for Sasaki. Dylan Campbell was traded to the Phillies, and Arnaldo Lantigua was sent to the Reds.

While the Dodgers have not yet officially announced their signing of Sasaki, co-owner Magic Johnson tweeted out a welcome to the pitcher, including pictures of him and Sasaki with a signed Lakers number 32 jersey.

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

Reaction & analysis of Sasaki

Kiley McDaniel at ESPN compared Sasaki to Paul Skenes, who won National League Rookie of the Year and finished third in Cy Young Award voting in 2024:

Sasaki will be on my top 100 prospects list, though, both because he’s signed as part of the international bonus pools, but he’s also still a prospect who needs development the same way Skenes did when he was in the upper minors and learned a new knockout pitch.

Eno Sarris at The Athletic looked at Sasaki’s stuff and performance. “All in all, his combination of strengths and weaknesses presents a couple of possible comparable pitchers. Sasaki might be a high-velocity Kodai Senga, or he may present as a peak version of Kevin Gausman.”

After signing Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and now Sasaki in the last 14 months, the Dodgers have established themselves as the destination for Japanese stars, Rowan Kavner wrote at Fox Sports.

“When the team held its second meeting with Sasaki, star players were in attendance, underscoring the club’s message as being the premier destination in Major League Baseball,” wrote Jack Harris at the Los Angeles Times. “And now, Sasaki will have the chance to immediately compete for a World Series, becoming an instant factor in their title defense.”

Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic said of the Dodgers, “They’re getting the baseball equivalent of an uncut diamond for a minimal price. They need to handle it with the utmost care.”

Sasaki chose the Dodgers to prioritize his development, argued Dylan Hernández at the Los Angeles Times:

Being the most talented pitcher from his country doesn’t mean Sasaki is the best, only that he has a chance to be the best. Sasaki is aware of that, and he presumably chose to sign with the Dodgers because he figured they could help him realize his declared ambition of becoming the best player in the world.

David Adler at MLB.com looked closely at Sasaki’s fastball, splitter, and slider.

Filed Under: Dodgers

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • No. 2 prospect Hope doubles twice, plates three runs at High-A
  • Dodgers beat White Sox for 8th win in their past 10 games
  • Angels put away Braves with 4 runs in 8th inning
  • Ducks add veteran forward Mikael Granlund on 3-year, $21M deal
  • Kings add Corey Perry among several others on first day of free agency

Categories

Archives

Our Partners

All Sports

  • 247 Sports
  • Bleacher Report
  • LA Sports Hub
  • Los Angeles Daily News
  • Los Angeles Times
  • Los Angeles Sports Nation
  • Orange County Register
  • OurSports Central
  • The Sports Daily
  • The Sports Fan Journal
  • The Spun
  • USA Today

Baseball

  • MLB.com - Dodgers
  • MLB.com - Angels
  • Dodger Blue
  • Dodger Insider
  • Dodgers Nation
  • Dodgers Way
  • Halo Hangout
  • Halos Heaven
  • Last Word On Baseball - Angels
  • Last Word On Baseball - Dodgers
  • MLB Trade Rumors - Angels
  • MLB Trade Rumors - Dodgers
  • Think Blue LA
  • Think Blue PC
  • True Blue LA

Basketball

  • NBA.com - Clippers
  • NBA.com - Lakers
  • Amico Hoops - Clippers
  • Amico Hoops - Lakers
  • 213 Hoops
  • Clipperholics
  • Clips Nation
  • Forum Blue And Gold
  • High Post Hoops
  • Hoops Hype - Clippers
  • Hoops Hype - Lakers
  • Hoops Rumors - Clippers
  • Hoops Rumors - Lakers
  • Lake Show Life
  • Lakers Nation
  • Lakers Outsiders
  • Lakerholics.net
  • Last Word On Pro Basketball - Clippers
  • Last Word On Pro Basketball - Lakers
  • Pro Basketball Talk - Clippers
  • Pro Basketball Talk - Lakers
  • Real GM - Clippers
  • Real GM - Lakers
  • Silver Screen And Roll

Football

  • Los Angeles Chargers
  • Los Angeles Rams
  • Bolt Beat
  • Bolts From The Blue
  • Chargers Gab
  • Chargers Wire
  • Last Word On Pro Football - Chargers
  • Last Word On Pro Football - Rams
  • NFL Trade Rumors - Chargers
  • NFL Trade Rumors - Rams
  • Our Turf Football - Chargers
  • Our Turf Football - Rams
  • Pro Football Focus - Chargers
  • Pro Football Focus - Rams
  • Pro Football Rumors - Chargers
  • Pro Football Rumors - Rams
  • Pro Football Talk - Chargers
  • Pro Football Talk - Rams
  • Ramblin Fan
  • Rams Gab
  • Rams Nation
  • Rams Wire
  • Turf Show Times

Hockey

  • Anaheim Calling
  • Elite Prospects - Ducks
  • Elite Prospects - Kings
  • Jewels From The Crown
  • Last Word On Hockey - Ducks
  • Last Word On Hockey - Kings
  • My NHL Trade Rumors - Anaheim Ducks
  • My NHL Trade Rumors - LA Kings
  • Pro Hockey Rumors - Ducks
  • Pro Hockey Rumors - Kings
  • Pro Hockey Talk - Ducks
  • Pro Hockey Talk - Kings
  • Pucks Of A Feather
  • Rink Royalty
  • The Hockey Writers - Ducks
  • The Hockey Writers - Kings

Soccer

  • Angels On Parade
  • LAG Confidential
  • Last Word On Soccer - LA Galaxy
  • Last Word On Soccer - Los Angeles FC
  • MLS Multiplex

College

  • Bruins Nation
  • Busting Brackets
  • College Football News
  • College Sports Madness
  • Conquest Chronicles
  • Go Joe Bruin
  • Last Word On College Football - UCLA
  • Last Word On College Football - USC
  • Reign Of Troy
  • Saturday Blitz
  • Zags Blog

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in