For as long as Major League Baseball has been a glimmer in Roki Sasaki’s eye, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been the favorite to acquire the 23-year-old pitching phenom, with the San Diego Padres trailing in a distant second place
However, after a vote conducted by MLB Pipeline of MLB executives earlier this month, it seems the Padres are gaining on the Dodgers.
Padres Potential Threat Of Overtaking Los Angeles Dodgers as Roki Sasaki Front Runners
As part of the questionnaire, executives were asked who they thought was the favorite to sign Sasaki. It should be noted that many of the responses came before the Wolfe media session, but two teams received nearly all of the votes: Dodgers: 11, Padres: 7. The Giants and Rangers each received one vote.
According to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, “One person assessed the Dodgers’ chances as: “Better than 50/50 but not 100 percent.”
The Padres and Dodgers have emerged as the frontrunners for Sasaki, driven by their geographic proximity and established connections to Japanese baseball through players like Yu Darvish, Shohei Ohtani, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
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Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman has publicly acknowledged Sasaki as a “major priority,” emphasizing his belief in the young pitcher’s potential to become the “best pitcher in the world.”
Sasaki’s exclusive negotiating window with Major League Baseball teams is set to expire on January 23, 2025. By this date, the young pitcher must sign a contract with a team or his free agency period will conclude.