When it comes to Major League Baseball free agency, there is never a safe time to count out the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After spending over a billion dollars on superstars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Teoscar Hernandez, and Tyler Glasnow in 2024, the Dodgers are still a threat to be active heading into 2025, especially if they come up short in the playoffs.
The biggest roadblock the Dodgers may have in their pursuit of a World Series this season is the starting rotation, which has been ravaged by injuries on a scale rarely seen at any point in big-league history.
The Dodgers have cycled through starters more than any other team in the league, and trade deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty, their most reliable arm of late, is set to hit free agency. According to one writer, the Dodgers could restock the cupboard in a major way.
On Tuesday, Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller discussed the possibility that the Dodgers could sign Japanese flamethrower Roki Sasaki to revamp their 2025 rotation.
"In theory, the Dodgers don't need to do anything on the pitching front. Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are signed for a while. So is Shohei Ohtani, who we're still expecting to see back on the mound in 2025," Miller said.
"Would you be particularly surprised, though, if the Dodgers went out and spent a bunch of money on Roki Sasaki?"
Sasaki is undoubtedly the most talented arm in the world not currently pitching in MLB. In four season's in Japan's top professional league, he owns a 2.02 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings, with a fastball that tops 100 miles per hour.
The Dodgers wouldn't even have to spend top dollar to sign Sasaki. Because he is under 25, Sasaki is subject to the international signing bonus pool limits, meaning he couldn't get a nine-figure deal like the one the Dodgers gave Yamamoto.
The bigger issue, though, is that there is no guarantee Sasaki comes stateside this winter. His team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, are under no pressure to post him yet and Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported the 22-year-old could be having second thoughts about such a move.
If the Dodgers can swing yet another move for a top Japanese star, they will be poised for an epic 2025 season. But there are a lot of hurdles to clear before that becomes a reality.
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