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Roki Sasaki Free Agency - Dodgers vs Blue Jays for Roki's heart


Timmy U

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3 hours ago, Balta1701 said:

I had two reasons I hoped would matter.

1. The Dodgers now legitimately have 7 starters. Yes, some are always hurt, but there will be a major crunch for innings. That isn’t good for a guys development.

2. Pretty much 29 teams now hate this guy for front running before they know anything else about him. He’s a villain that I’ll be rooting against. It’s like when Durant went ring hunting and at least I stopped cheering for either him or the Warriors. The Dodgers are suddenly a team where it feels ok to root for injuries, and that’s a bad way for a young player to market himself.

What?  This is fuckin weird.

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3 hours ago, Balta1701 said:

If they win a couple, that’s an easy way to get me to lose interest in baseball.

its no fun when the villain wins every time.

Yes, that same villain who was almost orphaned as a child, losing a father and two grandparents in a natural disaster....he betrayed the Padres/Preller!!!

 

"Sasaki is from Rikuzentakata in the Iwate Prefecture. Born in 2001, he was named after the villain Rouki from Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger, a Super Sentai show that was aired in the same year.[2][3] He was in the third grade during the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake. The resulting tsunami swept away his house. His father and grandparents died, while Sasaki, his mother, and his two brothers had to live in a nursing home during the recovery.[4][5][6] The family moved to Ōfunato the next year and Sasaki began to play baseball at his new school."   wikipedia

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1 hour ago, WestEddy said:

Yeah, there was a time when it got tiresome watching the Cowboys and 49ers go to the Super Bowl regularly. Richard Dent even signed with the 49ers to win a ring. Teams built to win over a period of time isn't "bad" for their sport. 

It is if no one can challenge them.

The Warriors being overbuilt was bad for basketball.

The Cavaliers figuring out how to hang with them was excellent for basketball.

The question is can anyone challenge them. If we are having this same conversation each of the next two offseasons, after they sign the next big Japanese import next offseason and just keep going? it will be tiresome to the point of not caring for a lot of people.

Is this team uniquely far ahead of the rest of the sport? This year will be interesting if someone can knock them off. If they win 110 and sweep the World Series that’s just boring. If someone can knock them off, that’s amazing.

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7 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

It is if no one can challenge them.

The Warriors being overbuilt was bad for basketball.

The Cavaliers figuring out how to hang with them was excellent for basketball.

The question is can anyone challenge them. If we are having this same conversation each of the next two offseasons, after they sign the next big Japanese import next offseason and just keep going? it will be tiresome to the point of not caring for a lot of people.

Is this team uniquely far ahead of the rest of the sport? This year will be interesting if someone can knock them off. If they win 110 and sweep the World Series that’s just boring. If someone can knock them off, that’s amazing.

 

Like a Clydesdale stomp on the rest of baseball...

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/01/17/bryce-miller-roki-sasakis-clydesdale-stomp-decision-to-join-dodgers-pains-padres/

"In San Diego, news that one-man Powerball ticket Roki Sasaki has decided to join the Dodgers was more than a gut punch. It was a steel-toed boot to the shin, a Clydesdale stomp to the foot, a right hook to the jaw.

This hurt in all kinds of ways, big and bigger than big.

The Dodgers, a team that spent more than $1 billion last season alone before winning the World Series, just became a one-city All-Star team.

Sasaki, the Japanese star with a ceiling as mesmerizing as the Sistine Chapel, has joined a rotation that includes two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell, $700 million arm and bat Shohei Ohtani, $325 million Japanese pickup Yoshinobu Yamamoto and All-Star Tyler Glasnow.

That’s insane. Who’s next, time-machine Nolan Ryan?

Then you tick off the offense Sasaki and the Dodgers line up behind that staff, starting with league MVPs Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, and the big picture staggers."

Edited by caulfield12
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"There’s also the frustration in San Diego and beyond that the Dodgers get whomever they want, whenever they want. The gravitational pull of the World Series win, coupled with the possibility of multiple more to come, has become baseball’s Venus flytrap.

Get too close and it’s over."

...

"The franchise with seemingly more riches than an Egyptian pharaoh, the one that deferred $680 million of Ohtani’s salary for a decade, somehow found a way to spend less.

This is not the rich getting richer. It’s the rich turning into Elon Musk."

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"Fast forward to this offseason... the Dodgers have just added so much to their rotation with the return of Teoscar/Edman - extended. BUT.. I will say losing Buehler (although not as effective) and Flaherty (seems likely not to return to LA as a FA), both those pitchers contributed to last season's championship run, more so Flaherty in a very big way.
 
Ohtani aint pitching till at least June... and I'm really not banking on him to return to all-star level pitching form coming off his 2nd TJ (success rate is very low I might add). May/Gosolin seem to be depth pieces and are both coming off major njuries as well. I'm still not sold on Yamamoto and he was injured for quite some time last season pitching his first season in the majors. Glasnow at this point is just not reliable this far into his career and I'm not sold on him lasting an entire season to be quite frank. Snell had a monster second half coming back from his injury... but again, one more year added to his career and he aint getting any younger either, he may be an injury risk at some point. Ray has may a great point on this board... Sasaki seems to have the stature/potential on becoming a solid pitcher in the majors.... but he's still a rookie and has also dealt with injuries in his young career so far. Sasaki will no doubt go through his bumps and bruises... and perhaps injuries while adjusting at the major league level. Sasaki is what other rookie pitchers are at this point... just unproven rookies.
 
The Dodgers on the offensive side have weapons... BUT Muncy (had injuries/older), Freeman (had injuries/older), Mookie (older and playing SS???), Teoscar (older), Will Smith (regressed offensively)... just doesn't scare me as much as last season for some reason. Ohtani is obviously their biggest offensive threat and will have a monster year playing DH.
 
I just don't buy the Dodgers like many others do (I'll admit, maybe I'm a bit biased)... yes, injuries are part of the game, but the Dodgers have a lot of injury prone arms in that rotation and even in their bullpen that I really don't think will be as great as the pundits are saying... also, that offense just seems older and will soon regress in my opinion.
 
With that being said... the Padres window is slowly closing as well... with the big names Manny/X/Darvish/Musgrove all consuming a big chunk of the CBT payroll."
 
 
stronger gaslampball.com comments section post...playing Devil's Advocate
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https://www.truebluela.com/2025/1/17/24346370/dodgers-reds-trade-arnaldo-lantigua-international-bonus-pool-roki-sasaki

This is where the other $1.5 million in pool space came from...Cincy Reds and not Texas.

 

"The Dodgers signed OFer Lantigua out of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic in 2023 for a reported $700,000 signing bonus. He hit .301/.430/.575 with 11 home runs and seven doubles in 49 games in the Dominican Summer League last season, and had nearly as many walks (33) as strikeouts (34).

Lantigua just turned 19 in December."

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2 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Wow - really amazing the amount of talent that has opened up from Japan. He’ll be on the Dodgers too… they did an amazing job capturing the Japanese market.

With honor and virtue being held so high culturally in Japan, you have to give it to LA for creating an alliance with their country and their stable of top talent.

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1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:
"Fast forward to this offseason... the Dodgers have just added so much to their rotation with the return of Teoscar/Edman - extended. BUT.. I will say losing Buehler (although not as effective) and Flaherty (seems likely not to return to LA as a FA), both those pitchers contributed to last season's championship run, more so Flaherty in a very big way.
 
Ohtani aint pitching till at least June... and I'm really not banking on him to return to all-star level pitching form coming off his 2nd TJ (success rate is very low I might add). May/Gosolin seem to be depth pieces and are both coming off major njuries as well. I'm still not sold on Yamamoto and he was injured for quite some time last season pitching his first season in the majors. Glasnow at this point is just not reliable this far into his career and I'm not sold on him lasting an entire season to be quite frank. Snell had a monster second half coming back from his injury... but again, one more year added to his career and he aint getting any younger either, he may be an injury risk at some point. Ray has may a great point on this board... Sasaki seems to have the stature/potential on becoming a solid pitcher in the majors.... but he's still a rookie and has also dealt with injuries in his young career so far. Sasaki will no doubt go through his bumps and bruises... and perhaps injuries while adjusting at the major league level. Sasaki is what other rookie pitchers are at this point... just unproven rookies.
 
The Dodgers on the offensive side have weapons... BUT Muncy (had injuries/older), Freeman (had injuries/older), Mookie (older and playing SS???), Teoscar (older), Will Smith (regressed offensively)... just doesn't scare me as much as last season for some reason. Ohtani is obviously their biggest offensive threat and will have a monster year playing DH.
 
I just don't buy the Dodgers like many others do (I'll admit, maybe I'm a bit biased)... yes, injuries are part of the game, but the Dodgers have a lot of injury prone arms in that rotation and even in their bullpen that I really don't think will be as great as the pundits are saying... also, that offense just seems older and will soon regress in my opinion.
 
With that being said... the Padres window is slowly closing as well... with the big names Manny/X/Darvish/Musgrove all consuming a big chunk of the CBT payroll."
 
 
stronger gaslampball.com comments section post...playing Devil's Advocate

That dude is delusional. 

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"I think his experience at [the] WBC," Wolfe said on Dec. 30, "being around [Yu] Darvish, being around Ohtani, and then seeing [Shota] Imanaga come over and dominate at such a level in the first half, I believe he realized … in order to take it to the next level, he had to come here, play against the best players in the world every day and tap into all the resources that Major League teams have to … help him become one of the best pitchers to ever not just come out of NPB, but to be one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball."

 http://www.google.com.hk/url?q=https://www.mlb.com/news/roki-sasaki-contract-with-dodgers&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwiGu8D9of-KAxUtLEQIHQoBKcsQ0PADegQICBAD&usg=AOvVaw0xyTBZi_gjl5BsgurcXBxe

 

Dodgers' rotation

Blake Snell Tyler Glasnow Dustin May Tony Gonsolin London Knack Yamamoto Sasaki Ohtani (later in season)...10 pitchers deep if you include Bobby Miller, Emmett Sheehan and River Ryan

Clayton Kershaw?

Best Fastball: Reynaldo Yean
Best Curveball: Jackson Ferris (2026 ETA)
Best Slider: Hyun-Seok Jang (White Sox pool money made possible)
Best Changeup: Jose Rodriguez
Best Control: Jared Karros (son of Erik)

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Make that 11 pitchers deep with Clayton Kershaw's eventual/inevitable return

"He’s continuing to heal and build up from the procedures he’s had,” Gomes said at the Winter Meetings. “We’ll just stay in touch. As I said, I hope and our expectation is that Clayton will be back next year, and whenever he’s ready, if we’re fortunate enough to bring him back, we’ll plug him in.”

The future Hall of Famer made it clear he wanted to retire as a Dodger at the end of the season, calling himself a “Dodger for life”.

“I just thought everyone kind of assumed and knew I was coming back. I didn’t really think about it,” Kershaw said during the playoffs after announcing he would play another season but not specifying for what team. “I’m going to be a Dodger.”

https://dodgersnation.com/dodgers-gm-reveals-latest-update-on-clayton-kershaw/2024/12/24/

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.

1. He won't be an ace -- yet

Leading up to his first round of meetings last month, Sasaki provided his suitors -- believed to be at least eight teams -- with what he called a homework assignment. All of them had the same task: To diagnose why his fastball velocity dropped last season in Japan, and to outline their plan to ensure it never happens again. To those who have tracked him, it said a lot about the 23-year-old phenom -- that he's confident, but also self-aware. That he's a long-term thinker. And that though he recognizes he can get better, he's hell-bent on being great.

"There aren't a whole lot of 23-year-olds who are going to be assertive enough to ask eight major league front offices a question like that," said a high-ranking executive who has seen Sasaki since high school. "Most kids that age are either in awe of that situation or hanging on for dear life."

https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/43440181/mlb-offseason-2025-roki-sasaki-los-angeles-dodgers-scouts

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22 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

While it was unlikely before, this also seems to remove any chance of Michael Kopech converting back to regularly starting this year.

With the way the Dodgers chew through pitchers, Kopech will start 6 games, get his next TJS, and they'll be trading for Martin Perez. 

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5 hours ago, Bob Sacamano said:

Caulfield, take a break from Soxtalk for at least 48 hours for the rest of us.

https://www.gaslampball.com/2025/1/17/24345848/report-padres-out-on-roki-sasaki#comments

Fine, I know most everyone is loving dancing on the graves of Padres/Preller...but here you had a GM who actually cut $90-100 million in payroll, yet still had the Dodgers on the run/ropes for two months until it finally imploded.

What more can a small or mid market team possibly do in MLB?

Likewise, Blue Jays fans have to be considering a total teardown of their once ballyhooed rebuilding class that's culminating with Myles Straw, Gimenez and perhaps KeBryan Hayes disappointing at third.  They legitimately believed they had both Ohtani AND Sasaki.

Padres went all the way up to #2 payroll in baseball with one of the most aggressive approaches, rose #4 in attendance...what Sox fans now desperately clamor for in their most optimistic fever dreams, but what's the point when their media rights package is generating $10-15 million in SD now versus two freakin'  billion for LA???

Even he Twins' owners are smart enough to now just walk away knowing they can't realistically compete for a World Series at $130-140 million...they're capitulating, simply cashing out before it turns bad.  Let's not forget the White Sox are about to be $100 million under that very much non-competitive standard that leads the AL Central by a bunch.

 

https://www.mlb.com/news/roki-sasaki-decision-alters-padres-plans

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The Padres doled out massive contracts like candy and now it's bit them in the ass. They aren't exactly a poverty franchise.

No one held Preller at gun point and forced him to do the Boagerts deal or constantly empty the farm.

Yes, the Dodgers can spend more. Just like the Yankees and Mets can. But the Padres have been using all of their ammo and now their fans are moaning that baseball is unfair? Their franchise is practically built on the hubris and stupidity of the White Sox.

Blue Jays fans, I get it. Padres fans are just being whiny.

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Trying to imagine how badly Getz would be crucified for Myles Straw fiasco by Sox fans.  Now looks like one of the worst moves in trade history.

Because now that $2 million is useless and stuck with a terrible contract.

CLE bailed out by Toronto on both Gimenez and Straw.

 

https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2025/1/17/24346282/sasaki-signs-with-dodgers#comments

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19 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Trying to imagine how badly Getz would be crucified for Myles Straw fiasco by Sox fans.  Now looks like one of the worst moves in trade history.

Because now that $2 million is useless and stuck with a terrible contract.

CLE bailed out by Toronto on both Gimenez and Straw.

 

https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2025/1/17/24346282/sasaki-signs-with-dodgers#comments

I agree. Also of note to the people screaming for the Sox to sign dudes in the last weeks of December with what's left in their allotment, all the known guys are signed. It's like we want them to scour the beaches for young guys throwing rocks in the water, and if somebody looks like a pitcher, give him $100k.

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