Shohei Ohtani reportedly played a large role in starting pitcher Rōki Sasaki signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani was part of a contingent of

Japanese star Roki Sasaki signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he announced on Instagram. The 23-year-old right-hander with a sizzling fastball and deadly splitter joins Samurai Japan teammates Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto with the World Series champion Dodgers.

The Rangers President of Baseball Operations said the organization put its ‘best foot forward’ in its pitch to the Japanese right-hander.

Rōki Sasaki, the 23-year-old phenom from Japan whose services for the next six seasons could be procured by every Major League Baseball franchise for the equivalent of a rounding error, ended his six-week recruiting period by agreeing to sign with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday,

Sasaki, nicknamed in Japan as "the Monster of the Reiwa Era," struck out 11 batters in 7 and ⅔ innings with a 3.52 ERA during the 2023 WBC. In Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, he struck out 129 hitters in 111 regular-season innings for the Marines in the 2024 season.

The Dodgers cemented their status as the preferred MLB destination for NPB stars and transformed their rotation into a Mount Rushmore of Japanese pitching luminaries by winning the Rōki Sasaki sweepstakes.

Baseball fans have the same complaint after Japanese star pitcher Rōki Sasaki signed with the star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers.

The prized righty pitcher was one of the most sought-after international free agents in recent memory and picked the Dodgers over a considerable list of other suitors.

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Cubs fanbase growing restless as owner Tom Ricketts insists they don't have the money to spend like the Dodgers and Mets.

At his age and talent level, Sasaki folds in perfectly for a Dodgers club that was already planning on running a six-man rotation.