Speculation about the likelihood of star Nippon Professional Baseball right-hander being likely to sign with the Dodgers — or even having a predetermined “handshake” deal to sign in L.A. once formally posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines — has drawn a sharp rebuke from his representatives. Agent Joel Wolfe of Wasserman emphatically denied that there’s any truth to those rumors, telling Evan Drellich of The Athletic:
“While a bunch of executives who should know me better and do a lot of business with me insult my integrity by insinuating that I would be a part of some type of nefarious agreement, in reality, this is just poor sportsmanship.”
Much of the speculation regarding the Dodgers and Sasaki stems from the Dodgers having the largest amount of money remaining in their 2024 international bonus pool — roughly $2.5MM. There’s also the fact that the Dodgers employ a pair of high-profile Japanese stars, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — the latter of whom is also represented by Wolfe and Wasserman. Of course, Wolfe/Wasserman are no strangers to representing high-profile international talent. They’ve also represented NPB stars like Kodai Senga and Seiya Suzuki, among others, in recent years.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred suggested this week that Sasaki’s posting will likely stretch into the 2025 signing period, which throws a wrench into the thinking behind the Dodgers having an edge due to their remaining amount of international pool space. When the 2025 signing period kicks off on Jan. 15, the Dodgers will be tied with the Giants for the smallest pool in the game at $5,146,200, per Baseball America. (The Dodgers forfeited two draft picks and $1MM in international pool space when signing Ohtani last offseason.)
All clubs are able to acquire additional bonus pool space, which is tradeable in $250K increments. However, a club can only acquire up to 60% of its initial pool allotment. For the Dodgers, that means they’ll be capped at offering a bonus in the vicinity of $8.25MM to Sasaki, and even that would require trading plenty of assets in order to acquire the maximum $3.09MM in extra space they can add. Each of the Reds, Tigers, Marlins, Twins, Brewers, A’s, Mariners and Rays, meanwhile will start the 2025 period with pools of $7.555MM. The Padres, another commonly speculated landing spot for Sasaki, will begin the 2025 period with a $6.26MM pool.
In theory, any of those teams with a $7.555MM pool could offer a maximum bonus of just over $12MM if they succeed in acquiring the full 60% of possible additional space. The Padres and others in their bracket could top out at just over $10MM.
In practice, however, it’s unlikely another club would be able to acquire such a weighty slate of international funds. Teams throughout the league continue to thumb their nose at the supposed rules barring them from negotiating advance deals with teenage talent on the international free agent market. Most clubs have already committed the majority of their 2025 pools on handshake deals with teenage prospects in Latin America. Whichever club signs Sasaki will likely do so at the cost of reneging on existing agreements with amateurs in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and other Latin American countries. Similarly, teams that don’t feel they have a real chance to sign Sasaki will be reluctant to trade significant chunks of their bonus pool, given that so many of those dollars are effectively committed elsewhere.
Baseball America’s Ben Badler took a comprehensive look at the ripple effects of Sasaki’s signing potentially pushing into next year’s period last week, before Manfred had publicly suggested that was likely. As Badler reports, the Dodgers and Padres have committed less of their 2025 pool to Latin American agreements than most clubs around the league, likely due to their hope that Sasaki would be posted and they’d be positioned to make the best offer.
However, it’s also likely that there will be clubs that are willing to scrap their existing verbal agreements in order to make a full-fledged pursuit of Sasaki. Some of those teams will inherently have more to offer the right-hander. The trickle-down effect could see players who thought they’d be signing with a Sasaki bidder instead explore last-minute deals with other clubs, creating a domino effect throughout the Latin American market.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic recently tackled this issue as well, exploring the many pitfalls of a flawed international free agent system the league and MLBPA have yet to sufficiently address. As he notes, it feels patently ridiculous that a player like Sasaki, who has dominated in NPB for the past four seasons and just turned 23, is categorized alongside a 16-year-old prospect from Latin America. Rosenthal suggested the league separate Sasaki from international bonus pools but not make him an unrestricted free agent; rather, cap his bonus at the $7.555MM sum the top teams will have in next year’s signing period. That’s an imperfect solution in and of itself, of course. It could also very well push Sasaki toward one of the widely expected landing spots (L.A. or San Diego) anyhow; all teams would effectively be on an even playing field, and a West Coast, win-now club would quite possibly hold more appeal than a Midwest team with less certain playoff aspirations.
There’s no perfect solution that can be put forth in the coming weeks. Sasaki’s decision to leave literally hundreds of millions of dollars on the table — Yamamoto waited until he was 25 years old to shed his “amateur” status and commanded a $325MM deal in L.A. — creates an impossible predicament for Major League Baseball and its current international amateur setup.
This situation will assuredly be a talking point, if not the focal point, during ensuing discussions regarding a potential international draft in the next wave of collective bargaining talks between MLB and the Players Association. For now, it’s a messy situation that’ll result in plenty of accusations, finger-pointing, and likely some jilted Latin American prospects who are left scrambling for new arrangements.
Of course his agent is going to deny it, but nobody believes it as fact
Actually , there’s plenty of us out there that don’t believe he has any sort of agreement.
Mhmm.
100% he has an agreement with the Dodgers but MLB will never punish their beloved LA team
Aa much as I don’t care for the Dodgers, this is a classic unfalsifiable rumor, like proving Ohtani’s innocence (vs. proving his guilt).
No amount of evidence to the contrary will sway people who really want to believe this narrative if Sasaki eventually does sign with the Dodgers. I’d say it costs nothing to take the agent at his word.
@Informed
Well said.
Except this free agent, this signing period, according to his agent
@MysteryWhiteBoy
And you don’t know if it is or isn’t in this case, so it is entirely supposition. The agent presumably wants to maximize available offers for his client. I presume the man cares about his integrity. If a handshake offer were on the table, he could just as easily stay silent. He said something.
He’s a sports agent. What integrity?!
Me thinks they protest too much.
People love their conspiracies.
Yep. Chemtrails, am I right?…
Comrade, St. Cyril is currently spinning in his grave.
Wiffleball: I agree with the first part, but the last sentence is totally outrageous!
“These other teams lost the race for Sasaki and are being poor sports about it” kind of gives the game away, doesn’t it Joel?
The only other team that has a chance other than the Dodgers is the Padres because they are in California and have Sasaki’s idol Yu Darvish.
Which is why I don’t believe for a minute that he’s made any sort of a decision or a handshake agreement. People assume just because of Ohtani and Yamameatballs, that he’s going to go there when he actually has connections elsewhere.
coop: I think he’ll go to the team that can pay him the most money when he’s no longer considered an amateur. Take teams that made the PO this year. ATL, SD, LAD, NYM, Philadelphia and NYY can definitely pay him what he wants. Cleveland and Milwaukee can’t. Detroit, Baltimore, Houston and KC, I don’t know if they would be willing to pay as much as the first group of teams.
Who really cares if they do. Most of the amateur ones do before they can sign.
Yes, just like the recent case with the Padres prospect found to be lying about his aging and scuttling the deal. Not as many people concerned about that but it seems these deals are all agreed to years before actually becoming official.
I think in this case, NPB and the Chiba Lotte Marines would. It’s one thing to have handshake agreements with amateurs, but when a player is contractually obligated to another professional league/team, it could have some implications for the relationship between the two leagues.
Yeah I guess that’s true. Didn’t really think about it from their perspective.
I heard it was a handshake agreement with his interpreter and he had no idea.
Quality content
I heard he stated the Padres would win a WS before the Dodgers back in 2019, just like Maldonado did. Oh, wait…..
Who is Maldonado?
Matty Maldonado.
LOL basic Dodger fan. He thinks “Maldonado” plays for the Padres, but he’s happy Turner & Belli finally got their rings this year. Oh and he has a jersey in every color, none more than 3 months old…
(being serious here and not my normal snarky self)
so the teams that have the most existing handshake deals for pseudo commitments with international talent will theoretically need to break their promises the most if they’re to win the Roki Sweepstakes? so in a way, to get Roki, who has proven himself in Japan (albeit not here), they’d have to risk losing promising young, mostly Latin American kids? or hope they have “hidden” them deep on their private academies so that no other team knows or can get at them so maybe to sign them next int’l signing period?
the squirreliness is going to increase. cue the clowns. rules are for losers apparently.
Rules are for losers lol man so true
We have our first dramatic agent quote of the off season! Good times.
Good. We need more dynasties in MLB. Tired of seeing garbage time WC teams like the Rangers, Nationals & Royals winning championships while the Big Market teams play golf. Now, if only we could get the Yankees back to the late 90s and early 2000s.
/ban @Old York
Cmon, he’s a dodger and we’ll all know it. And that’s okay, he’s allowed to pick which team to sign with.
I am not sure that is ok. It’s within the rules but not ok.
Why, if within the rules?
It sucks but he’s a free agent, he’s allowed to pick any team that gives him an offer
This is just a rumor, or a supposition or a premise or a cultural norm-ish, but Roki is too polite to step on Shohei’s and Yoshi’s toes, so he’ll demure from the Dodgers, odds are 42% anyway
Every rumor or supposition must be accompanied by a number. This is the new rule.
and by rule the number must be 42%
But only 42% of the time.
Which brings us back to Jackie Robinson, I KNEW IT!
“Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical.” YB
Bunch of Squirrels after the same Nut….Smh
It would be interesting to know who is included in the “bunch of executives” Wolfe is talking about.
Musk, Bezos, Buffet, Disney, etc…
You make funny, but seriously, knowing who Sasaki’s agent thinks is engaging in “poor sportsmanship” seems like the only potentially interesting takeaway from this story. Not a relationship-building comment, one imagines.
The quote is interesting from that standpoint. He seems irked at some one or some team
Executives plural and Teams
yes
Yeah, so… who are those executive and who are those teams?
Only 5% of all MLB teams have a 50% chance of signing him.
I always assumed that the Dodgers preference was just media speculation based in the obvious reasons and that the “handshake agreement” was more fan sentiment. It really is interesting that Wolfe believes that idea is coming from executives around the game.
I can’t see the Dodgers going all out to acquire Juan Soto when their biggest need(by far) is pitching.
I can’t see the Dodgers committing a record sum to acquire a guy they’ll have to replace after the 7th inning with a lead.
I think the Dodger’s “chase” of Soto is more about doing due diligence and driving up the price for other teams.
Yep, they’ll never win a championship with all the injuries like they had last season.
Right, just like all those injuries kept them from winning a Championship in 2024. You nailed it.
They can sign Adames, Fried, and Hernandez all for less than they’ll pay Soto. Hernandez will give them 85% of his offense and triple his defense. So it would be stupid to invest all that money in one player.
7.9 WAR vs 4.3. Nearly double the production last season.
18.9 WAR vs 9.2. More than double the production over the last 3 seasons.
26 and in peak years vs 32 and in declining years.
Will earn about $43 million AAV vs will earn $20 million AAV
Soto is the better investment.
Soto isn’t 26 I don’t care what anyone says. But as far as the better investment, you’d have a point if that AAV was just for the next few years like Hernandez. But that’s not the case. The investment in Soto will be $500M vs 60ish million for Hernandez. So no, paying an additional $440M for a guy that will need to DH in a few years is definitely not the better investment, especially not when you have a $40+M AAV DH already on the roster. There is zero chance Soto is going to the Dodgers unless the bottom falls out of his market and he has to take a short term, high AAV deal.
Would such a handshake agreement actually violate any rule? If this was a player on another MLB team there are tampering rules but are any of those in effect for overseas leagues?
Of course he wants to go there? The Dodgers are a well run organization with unlimited funds…………
Although the Dodgers are way ahead of the rest, every team in baseball is run by billionaires.
Want prized international free agents to come and play for your team? Spend more money and put a better product on the field rather than waiting in line for your cut of the Tax money. .
Baseball should have a salary floor rather than a salary ceiling
Whoa, slow down there, buddy. Way ahead of the rest.? They just won their first real World Series in 40 years. And that was basically because a team that had spanked them all season, And 2 of the first 3 games in playoffs, collapsed for 24 innings……lol
Did you read the post, or do you just blindly hate the Dodgers? LOL
I was taking about their ability to spend and their financial resources.
Money is not the be all and end all…..BUT, I firmly believe that star players transcend the moment and win games.
Yankees players credited Mookie Betts defense in right field in the W.S. as the reason for not even trying to stretch out extra bases. I guess a $3mm player could just as easily commit himself so seriously to his craft, but it doesn’t seem that way because of the limits to their individual talents.
It also makes the case for analytic not being the be all and end all. fielding metrics nor bWAR adaquately define Derek Jeter being in front of home plate on an overthrow, Curt’s bloody sock or Mookie’s defense.
Well, not all teams are run by billionaires: Brewers, Dbacks, Rockies…and it really has nothing to do with how much the owners are worth and everything to do with market size and how much revenue they’re bringing in based on tv deals and you got it, market size. I guarantee you all teams are making a similar profit margin and the Dodgers and Yankees are making much much more while having WAY higher payrolls. They’re not altruistic. It’s such a simpleton approach to this.
So, their profit margins are higher and they can buy whoever they want. It’s just how it is. The small market teams that can at least compete year in and out are the impressive ones. The Dodgers are well run for a large market team but let’s not pretend they don’t have advantages. It’s like cheering on Jeff Bezos for making more money on his investments.
The point that I was making is, no one is going broke owning a baseball team. And while you can say that dollars spent don’t necessarily translate to wins, having star power or a better product on the field certainly produces more revenue. More importantly, playoff money is all profit, because its never in the initial budget.
Stop the luxury tax nonsense that all owners stick right in their pocket, and create a salary floor, not ceiling
The Atlanta Braves have a public number relating to profits, they admitted to making over $500mm.
15 of the past 16 WS winners were teams top 8 in payroll
A floor without a ceiling doesn’t make sense, and definitely doesn’t unless ALL revenues are shared equally.
You can see what the other sports do quite easily.
It makes absolute sense, a guarantee minimum spend on players raises the product on the field across the Board
Its not socialism
It’s more than just the salary. A lot more. It’s the west coast proximity to greater exposure in Japan for commercial endorsements. Plus the media capital that LA can offer. I be am a Padres fan, but I know that they can’t compete against LA regarding non-baseball compensation. Actually, teams would have a better chance if salary was not capped by international bonus ceilings. The way it is now, media markets like LA and NY can offer more opportunities beyond salary. The small differences between teams bonus pools will not be the deciding factor.
Ok then so don’t sign with the Dodgers, otherwise everyone will call bull. Pretty simple. Otherwise shut up because you’re making yourself look worse by answering.
We know even if this did happen, Manfred wouldn’t do a damn thing. We’ve seen what happens after he “gets to the bottom” of a scandal. (nothing)
Ohtani will bet you on it!
Well, I hate the dodgers, but this isn’t any scandal, they’re allowed to make handshake agreements ahead of time.
I was hoping it was a Harpo handshake
And this is the most culturally literate comment we are likely to see here today.
So when he does sign with LA (which he will) the agent will just say it’s a coincidence?
Those amateur players the Dodgers had handshake deals with better start making other plans quick
“Just say it’s a coincidence”…It’s never a “coincidence” when 1 of of the top two revenue producing teams in MLB signs a top of market free agent.
And you’re severely underestimating how attractive to free agents LA has made their team.
Beautiful weather 95% of the time, extreme revenues, HUGE daily crowds and a winning culture/history are quite attractive to prospective free agents.
This is exactly right. And the reason they are a top revenue-producing team is because they have smart owners and make good decisions that increase their revenue which is good for the sport. Dodgers fans lived through Fox and Frank McCourt for a long time, so we have seen both sides of this. Yes, there is an inherent advantage to being in one of the 3 biggest media markets in the country, but we don’t see a lot of complaining about the White Sox or Angels having an unfair advantage.
The Dodgers are a top revenue team because they are in the 2nd largest media market. Period. End of sentence.
Oh, and they win World Championships. There’s that.
1 in the last 40 full seasons. The Giants win Championships. The Red Sox win championships. The Dodgers win regular seasons.
And the Padres have won—-championships in their nearly 60 years of existence?
Oh yeah, they beat the Dodgers in the 2022 Division Series–that’s their World Series!
Mario, its fascinating how hurt in the behind you must be to respond in that manner. The facts are the facts and the Padres have nothing to do with the fact that the Dodgers have one championship in a full season in the last 40 years.
LOL Pads Fans!
Don’t forget LA has
High Cost of Living. LA consistently ranks as one of the most expensive cities in the United States, with steep housing costs and a high overall cost of living. …
Traffic Congestion. …
Air Quality. …
Drought. …
Competitive Job Market.
Fires
High crime rate
High State Tax
Etc.
Actually, the LA job market is quite job-searcher friendly, and per capita income is higher than most of US. But, you did forget earthquakes.
And, they don’t yet have tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, sink holes, volcanic blasts and lava flows, significant opioid epidemic (yet), humid uncomfortable summers, lack of diverse entertainment options, inbreeding (relatively), nor difficulty avoiding large falling coconuts, etc…,
But hey, I promise I didn’t wake up this morning thinking of nice things to say about LA
Not to mention, scurvy, pellagra, dropsy, or locusts.
Why do all these articles on Sasaki wind up in minutia about which teams have the most international bonus pool money. If he were overly focused on how much a team can offer him he’d have waited to ask to be posted another 2 years. He most likely will consider a small number of MLB teams to land with, with LA certainly being one of them, but the money he’ll make in his initial signing isn’t a major concern.
Agree with the first part. But he’s going to the Dodgers no question in my mind about that.
I’m sure there are odds out there for you to bet a couple paychecks on if you’re sure. No reason not to unless you’re just whining.
@ Blackpink, while I agree, the dodgers are in the lead, there’s something to be said for him wanting to go elsewhere and not have to split the sponsorship pie. Word had it that Yamameatballs was finding a hard time getting some endorsements because of Ohtani.
@kingken. I think he has bad medicals on his elbow. Just like ohtani did. If he has Tommy john on his age 25 season. He won’t be getting 300 million. This way he hits his arbitration years and free agency earlier. Still think he’s going to ask for atleast 8 million for his bonus.
I think the only way they can assuage the conspiracy theories will be Roki signing with Baltimore. 🙂 Come’on folks, protect your honor and come to the Orioles!
One thing for sure is Roki will sign with a contender!
Sure Joel, we believe you
LA going for Roki doesn’t really solve their main problem. Obviously getting him would be a boon regardless, I’m just saying a more reliable source of innings is probably a better fit.
it’s not really one or the other
I didn’t say it was one or the other. I’m talking about the best fit for their particular roster imperfection.
Yeah, they’ll never win a 162 game championship with so many pitchers on the DL.
I didn’t say they couldn’t compete. Starter health/durability is obviously an issue though or else they wouldn’t be meeting with starters.
You always want to improve. Why wouldn’t they kick tires on everyone available? Snell or Casparius? Burnes or a bullpen game? They wouldn’t be doing due diligence if they didn’t check in on them. If they end up getting a front line starter, good for them. If they don’t, looks like they’ve got a rotation of about seven newly healthy arms/MLB ready arms to sort through in spring training. I count Glasnow, Yamamoto, Ohtani, Gonsolin, Kershaw, May, Miller, Casparius, Knack, Wrobleski, who have all started for the big squad and all MLB ready. That’s if I didn’t miss anyone. Ferris is knocking down the door. Saying the Dodgers are desperate or NEED a starter is not necessarily true. It’d be nice, sure.
And then there’s Sasaki, who may or may not be already signed, sealed and delivered.
As a guy who has seen the Murdochs and McCourts and watched through Kevin Malone and Ned Colletti, it’s a great time to be a Dodger fan.
I didn’t say they shouldn’t try to improve and I didn’t say they shouldn’t explore certain options. I just gave an opinion that the most sensible way to improve (according to my irrelevant opinion) is to find a guy who can provide stable innings…ace-durability essentially.
The entire rotation is all upside with huge question marks. That’s a reality they overcame this past year. Seems like a big gamble to attempt to do so again.
Yamamoto: ?
Glasnow: ?
Ohtani: ?
Kershaw: ?
Sasaki: ?
Gonsolin: ?
Miller: ?
Stone: ?
May: ?
If it all comes together then they have the best stable of arms in MLB, bar none. But the (essentially) guaranteed innings of Corbin Burnes (for example) would obviously be more of a comfort than the upside of Sasaki…and its not like Burnes doesn’t provide upside either. In fact, banking on Burnes’ upside (Cy Young caliber season) is more justified than banking on Sasaki’s.
In no way am I saying “they shouldn’t sign Sasaki”, or that he would be bad for the team. I’m just saying that what someone like Burnes provides is probably more optimal given the problems they had this past year. Yes, they overcame those problems and won a title…but smart teams don’t roll the same dice each year. They identify weaknesses and address them.
Every international free agent including 14 year olds have handshake agreements in advance. Why is that a problem just because he might want to go to the best run organization in sports versus some loser place?
Hip thrusts
Every Japanese player will be a Dodger…..
There saved you the time and effort now carry on
*IF* the tin foil hat patrol is right and the Dodgers already have a handshake deal in place – what would be next level strategy is to rob the Dodgers by pick pocketing them of their handshake deals with Latin American players who they’re just about to screw to give Roki the pool money that was previously earmarked for the kids. Not the same as getting Roki but would be both funny and a clever consolation prize for playing the Reindeer Games.
Score some of their lottery tickets.
JAPANIPULATION.
The Dodgers are quickly becoming the Chiefs of MLB, the fan bases of all teams rooting against them
They been that way lol people always hated the dodgers ever since they moved from Brooklyn to LA. When you’re the team of celebrities it comes with the territory.
Also since that new Magic Johnson conglomerate ownership took over and they basically been at the top of the payroll other than them 3 years Steve Cohen tried to buy a world series with Buck Showalter as manager so people hate on that as well also comes with the territory.
Without checking I’d say they’ve been top five in payroll since Guggenheim took over, but certainly not number one most years over that time.
Funny you should mention Magic. His small ownership share was supposed to be the local face of the Chicago ownership. But as we Dodgers fans know, Mr. Johnson only shows up at the stadium for playoff games. We also remember Tommy Lasorda coming to virtually every game until he could hardly walk anymore.
Since Guggenheim bought the team prior to the 2013 season, the Dodgers have been #1 in payroll 6 times, #2 two times and never below #5.
Thanks, about as I thought.
Another thing to add to that, since the start of the 2013 season the Dodgers have spent $511 million more than the 2nd highest spending team in MLB and $1.15 billion more than the 2nd highest spending team in the NL West in CBT payroll.
That comes out to about $43 million more annually than the #2 Yankees and $96 million more than the #2 NL West Giants.
The 3rd highest spending team in the NL West has been the Padres and the Dodgers have spent an average of $101 million more annually than they have.
Since the start of the 2013 season 8 MLB teams have not averaged $96 million in annual CBT payroll.
Who cares? The Dodgers will be good for a few years and eventually it’ll catch up and they will need to rebuild..
They’ve literally been good for the last decade plus a couple years.
Maybe he’s accounting for climate change sea rise
The system/procedure needs to be evaluated. Why not just make international players part of the draft?
I hope I’m wrong, but I think he ends up signing with San Diego
I agree with the guy above who commented: Why? Handshake deals are made with International Prospects all the time. Heck they have handshake deals with 13 year kids in South America. What’s the difference?
@unclemike. I’m sure teams already know, because they wouldn’t be able to sign anyone for 2025 if they get roki, plus I’m sure they have trades in the works for international money. Probably waiting for him to get posted, so they don’t get busted for illegal tampering.
The kids in SA, don’t have contacts between themselves and a network of professionals who can collude with an MLB team to all go to the same team.
These are proven professionals, not teenaged prospects.
Ohtani’s translator will give odds
As important as integrity and honor is in the Japanese culture, I think the dodgers and those executives that Wolfe is referring to just guaranteed that they will not sign Sasaki.
In January, LA and SF will have the lowest $$, so if he goes there then this whole thing becomes a shady piece that LA should be disciplined. Maybe he gets reposted, they can’t bid and they lose $$ for next year.
You do realize he can only be signed to a Minor League contract, right? Literally any baseball team can sign him. Even the A’s.
Might as well become Tokyo Dodgers!
@logan1429. They can acquire more money they are probably capped around 8-9 million. The tier 1 teams can get around 12-13. I’ve seen articles say they can acquire 75% of the total that’s alotted. Someone posted 60%. I don’t know what’s correct. You can’t punish him, because it’s a 100 percent his choice.
It’s not that is a hand shake agreement, is that is his best possible destination, so many intangibles that some even call it unfair.
Just ask yourself who do you chose?
The table is set.
Could the Dodgers have a broadcasting agreement in Japan? If so, this signing would be gold.
No. All international broadcasts are handled by the league.
2020vision. Every angels game was broadcasted when ohtani was on the team. So yes. It wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the same with senga or imanaga. Meaning he could sign with Miami, and it’s the same.
And what exactly is the upside for Sasaki to cut a handshake deal? Failing to understand the reasoning of this argument outside of whining execs already fearing that he’ll go to the Dodgers.
Dodgers have the baseball world stressed lol.
Dodgers are gonna sign Snell, Sasaki, Soto and someone else and ruin baseball
How does that differ from what the Padres have done over the last five years? They’ve signed everyone and traded for every big name in the league. How does that differ from the Dodgers? They haven’t won as many games despite doing exactly what you’re accusing the Dodgers of doing?…which is perfectly legal by the way. Just say you hate the Dodgers for being good and having money.
If he does, there will be huge investigations, owners are not going to sit for this and continue to allow them to stack players on the cheap
If he has preference for LA then he likes LA. Other teams will get opportunity to show their love for this free agent n make sales pitch for their city n their organization. Ohtani went to Angel’s for God’s sake. With what they’ve built up @Chavez Ravine who wouldn’t want to play for 1 of best teams in world, a perennial playoff team, play in 1 of most culturally diverse great cities in the world, n make millions of dollars doing so. Coming to a situation where Dodgers have been to 3 of last 5 WS n just won it all. It’s hard to compete w/all the benefits of coming to LA as professional athlete. Just ask Ohtani n Yamamoto.
2019 nope
2020 *
2021 nope
2022 nope
2023 nope
2024 fix was in
So that’s two since 2019 and 4 since 2017
2017*
2018*
since asterisks go both ways.
That’s four rings in 9 years using your logic.
Buy me a ticket for an aeroplane…..
Of course there was no handshaking agreement, in their culture they bow to each other.
THE Dodger issue:
Bring back the BEANBALL…..
That’s how they used to deal with stuff like that.
Players will tend to avoid being stacked and utilize a perceived collusion when being beaned 5-6 times a month…..
There can be a collusion by the rest of the leagues’ players too!
You’ve got to wonder what teams in cities like Detroit or Pittsburgh say.
For all the money the Tigers have spent in SA, only one infielder from 2016 as a utility guy is on the roster.
Seems to not be overly productive. In fact,…..it does not appear to be a good use of resources and has yielded little to nothing.
Meanwhile, a BILLION DOLLARS is transfered out of the country ever 2-3 years.
Who came up with this system?
Truly. Who?
And more importantly, what are those people doing?
(I believe I know the answer.)
…and then, he’ll sign with the Dodgers.
Well, hopefully Pirates
who wouldnt want to see Roki and skenes dominate for the next 5-6 years in the SAME rotation