LA got international bonus pool space from Philadelphia for the outfielder drafted in 2023
The Dodgers have landed Roki Sasaki, the highly-coveted 23-year-old right-hander who is major-league ready but will be paid a relative pittance at the start of his career.
Because Sasaki isn’t yet 25 years old and doesn’t have the requisite experience overseas, he is not considered a foreign professional by Major League Baseball, like Yoshinobu Yamamoto was when he signed with the Dodgers last offseason. As a result, Sasaki’s initial deal with the Dodgers is a minor league contract.
Sasaki will receive a $6.5 million signing bonus from the Dodgers, per Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic and Alden González at ESPN.
The Dodgers will also pay a release fee of $1.3 million, equal to 20 percent of Sasaki’s contract, to the Chiba Lotte Marines, who posted the right-hander on December 9.
Sasaki as an amateur is subject to the international bonus pool, and the Dodgers’ initial pool of $5,146,200 when the signing period began on Wednesday. The Dodgers needed to trade for additional bonus pool space to facilitate the $6.5 million for Sasaki.
On Friday afternoon the Dodgers traded minor league outfielder Dylan Campbell to the Phillies for bonus pool space. The exact amount of pool space coming from Philadelphia hasn’t yet been reported.
Per the collective bargaining agreement, teams can trade bonus pool space in $250,000 increments, or the entirety of the trading team’s remaining pool. So the Dodgers needed to trade for $1.5 million in bonus pool space or at least $1,353,800 if absorbing a team’s entire remaining pool.
Francys Romero reported the Phillies sent “between” $750,000 and $1 million in bonus pool space. It’s more likely $750,000 or $1 million because of the $250,000-increment rule, unless the Phillies only had a specific amount left in their pool within that range. But either way, it meant the Dodgers needed to make another trade to secure more bonus pool space to get to $6.5 million for Sasaki.
That other trade was also on Friday, sending 19-year-old Dominican outfielder Arnaldo Lantigua to the Reds for a reported $1.5 million in bonus pool space.
Campbell was drafted by the Dodgers in the fourth round in 2023 out of Texas. He hit .251/.331/.372 with 10 home runs, 21 doubles, 42 stolen bases, and a 104 wRC+ for High-A Great Lakes in 2024.
The Dodgers have spent a lot of money over the last decade-plus, including paying a record $103 million competitive balance tax in 2024. Their payroll in 2025 is going to surpass last year’s $353 million. But money isn’t every reason why the Dodgers have done what they’ve done. Sasaki is someone any team could have signed, at a paltry sum, and he chose Los Angeles.
The Dodgers got a career year out ot Tyler Anderson in 2022, then received a compensatory draft pick when he signed with the Angels the next offseason. The Dodgers used that pick to select Campbell. Talk about paying dividends down the road.