Since it was announced last weekend that Roki Sasaki would be posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball, it has been all but a foregone conclusion where the 23-year-old would end up.
By giving Sasaki the prospect of playing with two of the biggest Japanese baseball stars — not only of the modern age, but of all time — Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been the clear frontrunner in the Sasaki sweepstakes.
On Thursday, an MLB insider revealed there may be a race to acquire the right-hander within the Dodgers' division.
"Dodgers people say there's no deal yet for Japanese superstar right-hander Roki Sasaki but insiders are assuming LA is the heavy favorite," wrote Jon Heyman of the New York Post, "The rival (San Diego) Padres are their main Sasaki competition due to his Yu Darvish connection. But it will be a surprise if Sasaki isn't a Dodger."
Although the Dodgers remain the most likely option for Sasaki, the influence of Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish cannot be understated. Darvish was massively influential in his time in Japan, and is often cited by Shohei Ohtani as his childhood idol.
At this time, it seems Sasaki, who posted a 2.10 ERA over four seasons in Japan's NPB across 64 games and 414 2/3 innings, is most likely headed to southern California. The question is, will he play with Japan's biggest young stars, or with their biggest rival?
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