Star pitcher Roki Sasaki ended the suspense of the most intriguing free agency of the offseason.
According to a post on the 23-year-old pitcher's Instagram account Friday, he is signing a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"It was a very difficult decision," Sasaki wrote in Japanese, "but I will do my best to make it the right decision when I look back after my baseball career."
Most major league teams submitted a presentation to Joel Wolfe, Sasaki's agent, in hopes of signing the pitcher after he was posted by the NPB's Chiba Lotte Marines in December. Less than half of those teams were granted in-person meetings.
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In January, only three teams were granted a second meeting with Sasaki in their home cities: the Padres, Dodgers, and Blue Jays.
Francys Romero reported early Friday that the Padres were out; San Diego subsequently pivoted to signing Carlos Alvarez, a left-handed pitcher from the Dominican Republic, draining from the same international bonus money allotment from which teams can pay Sasaki his signing bonus.
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That left the Dodgers and Blue Jays as the two finalists to sign Sasaki with one week left in his 45-day window to negotiate a major league contract.
Once he's passed his physical, the Japanese right-hander will become one of baseball's biggest bargains. He will likely earn the major league minimum salary (in addition to his signing bonus) if and when he is promoted to the majors. Sasaki's deadline to sign is next Thursday.
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Last season, Sasaki went 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 starts for Chiba Lotte, with 129 strikeouts in 111 innings.
By leaving Japan at age 23, Sasaki is foregoing the opportunity to sign the kind of nine-figure contract countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto got two years ago from the Dodgers. Yamamoto's $325 million, 12-year contract set an all-time record for any pitcher.
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The Blue Jays acquired $2 million in international signing money in a trade with the Cleveland Guardians Friday, bringing their maximum bonus outlay to $8.26 million. The Dodgers' bonus pool stood at $5.15 million.
In Los Angeles, Sasaki will join a starting rotation that could easily be baseball's best. Blake Snell is a former Cy Young Award winner. Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani — who's scheduled to return to pitching in May — would be the number-1 starter on most teams. Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, and Bobby Miller have shown flashes of brilliance in success, and three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw has pledged to re-sign in free agency.
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