'The homework assignment': Inside the final weeks of the chase for Roki Sasaki

By Fabian Ardaya, Dennis Lin, Patrick Mooney, Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon

Perhaps it was fitting that everyone could see the UCLA campus outside the window. Inside a long conference room off Wilshire Boulevard, team after team attempted to recruit the most coveted free agent of the moment. The suitors included storied franchises and less heralded organizations, all seeking to woo a quiet 23-year-old with a roaring fastball and an air of mystery. They did not arrive, however, without some sense of direction.

Roki Sasaki had assigned homework.

It was December in Los Angeles, and as Sasaski met with teams at the headquarters of the Wasserman Sports Agency, he remained several weeks away from finalizing his choice. But after years of anticipation, these gatherings represented the homestretch of a long selection process, and at this critical juncture, the Japanese star seemed clear about what he wanted to hear. He asked each potential employer to explain the reason behind a vexing issue that lingered over his final season before a long-anticipated jump to the majors: Why did his velocity fall off?

The question was pointed and “incredibly thoughtful,” according to one of the executives tasked with answering it. It also proved consuming, posed to teams just days before the first round of meetings.

“The homework assignment,” said one club official briefed on the process, “was the presentation, basically.”

With a cadre of representatives by his side, Sasaki essentially interviewed any team he wanted, allowing him to gain valuable insights from a host of pitching experts. So the presenters made their pitch for roughly 90 minutes at a time. In the same way that front offices hunt for every piece of information and press every advantage in a negotiation, Sasaki came away with analysis from some of the sport’s most progressive organizations, all but one of which he is now tasked with beating.

“It was smart,” said one high-ranking official from a team that presented to Sasaki but did not advance to the final round.

Not everyone viewed it as charitably.

“It was a little bit like, ‘Hey, man, you’re asking for some things that get beyond that line of proprietary,”’ said a decision maker for another club. “It did kind of get to that line a little bit where you’re like, ‘Really?’ But you got to make a decision and then kind of put your best foot forward.”

Some left the room wondering where they stood. One executive who made the trip to Westwood said Sasaki did not ask a single question unrelated to pitching mechanics. Another, from a different club, recalled that Sasaki barely spoke during their meeting. Representatives from a third team that did not land him found Sasaki to be engaging and driven to succeed. Another official noted that the “introverted” Sasaki opened up as soon as the topic shifted to pitching.

An executive from a fifth club described a process that contained significant “misdirection,” alluding to how the pitcher’s priorities seemed uncertain.

Many of the invited participants noted Sasaki’s obvious curiosity about pitching philosophies while other topics brought on relative silence. The lack of back-and-forth for some left certain questions unaddressed. What did Sasaki really want? And how would he go about obtaining it?

In recent days, The Athletic spoke with more than two dozen people involved in attempts to recruit Sasaki. All of them were granted anonymity in exchange for their candor. Together, they described an enigmatic young man who appeared careful not to tip his hand and a process that concluded with a sushi chef, a Bel Air mansion, and a text message from the most famous baseball player on the planet.

With that, after yearslong pursuits and more than a month of frenzied speculation about Sasaki, the mystery abruptly dissolved and the answers became clear.


Roki Sasaki poses for a photo on Jan. 27, 2024, after signing a contract with the Chiba Lotte Marines. (Kyodo News via Associated Press)

Sasaki had the power and held it long before grading the homework assignments in that boardroom near UCLA. By not waiting until he turned 25 to come stateside, he had given up the potential for hundreds of millions of dollars in a first contract with a major-league club. But he also gained exceptional leverage.

The same international bonus pool rules that capped his earnings also made him a theoretical fit for all 30 teams. Still, one franchise in particular stood out to both casual fans and the seasoned baseball officials who went on pilgrimages to Japan, hoping to make inroads.

“Give anybody truth serum,” one team executive said. “That’s all I’ve heard anyone talk about — the Dodgers had him signed a long time ago.”

Joel Wolfe, Sasaki’s agent at Wasserman, vehemently denied persistent rumors of a handshake deal. And though Major League Baseball had no evidence rules were violated, the league was aware that if Sasaki signed with the Dodgers, a team to which he long had been linked, some might perceive “the fix was in.”


Joel Wolfe speaks to reporters at MLB’s Winter Meetings on Dec. 10, 2024. (Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press)

So in the weeks before Sasaki’s Japanese team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, posted him on Dec. 9, MLB launched an investigation.

The primary focus of the probe, however, was not Sasaki, but his team. When Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels in December 2017, his Japanese club, the Nippon Ham Fighters, received a $20 million posting fee. A new posting system then went into effect. The Marines only would receive 25 percent of Sasaki’s bonus, which would be capped by baseball’s international signing rules. Their fee would be a fraction of what the Ham Fighters got for Ohtani, raising concern about the potential for kickbacks.

MLB determined in its investigation that no illegal arrangement of any kind was in place.

Nevertheless, the industry seemed convinced that the Dodgers already had the edge. It was against this backdrop of suspicion that the final weeks of Sasaki’s decisions played out, leaving many suitors even more unclear about the pitcher’s aims.

Though Sasaki has been repeatedly described as someone who prefers to avoid the spotlight, he took meetings with the New York Mets and New York Yankees. Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox, another big-market franchise with an infrastructure in Japan, were not granted an audience.

Neither were the Seattle Mariners, a franchise with a rich history in Japan and a current pitching program that is viewed as best in class. The Mariners had featured Ichiro Suzuki in their introductory material, highlighting Seattle’s welcoming environment for players coming over from Nippon Professional Baseball.

Their omission added to the intrigue. As did some of the other teams that made the list.

The Chicago Cubs, another organization that has had recent success attracting players from Japan, sent a contingent to Wasserman headquarters that included chairman Tom Ricketts, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and manager Craig Counsell. Cubs officials broke into smaller groups and filtered in and out of the conference room, taking turns with specific parts of the presentation.

“Disappointed we didn’t kind of get a rose to get to the final three,” Hoyer said Friday during a media session at the team’s winter convention. “That’s the nature of these things.”

As “The Bachelor”-style eliminations played out, the Dodgers to little surprise emerged as finalists. They were joined by a rival that had been perceived as a legitimate threat, the San Diego Padres. But it was the third finalist that puzzled executives throughout the sport: the Toronto Blue Jays.

Though Sasaki’s marketing potential could be enormous throughout Canada, the Blue Jays are not regarded within the industry as a team that excels at pitching development. Toronto’s front office is on the hot seat and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. can become a free agent after this season, adding to the instability. Yet, they endured in the sweepstakes, despite Sasaki narrowing down his choices.

On Monday, the first public acknowledgment that the process had entered the homestretch came from San Francisco Giants general manager Zack Minasian, who confirmed his team had been informed they were out of the running. The statement set off a wave of similar headlines from the eventual losers’ bracket.

By that point, Sasaki had begun the final leg of his tour, in-person meetings with his finalists. He had already traveled to Toronto, where he worked out at the Rogers Centre, another sign of his unconventional process. Though he has been touted as one of the most gifted pitchers on the planet since a young age, Sasaki understands that he is not a finished product and values his routine. He threw at the ballpark not as part of a showcase but to stay on his regular throwing schedule. It was perceived by some as a sign of his dedication to his craft.

It also gave Sasaki something else he wanted: a sense of what his routine would be like in a major-league park.

“He didn’t need to throw,” a Toronto official said. “And even if he did and looked bad, any team would still take him.”

Sasaki’s next stop took him to San Diego. The Padres had always loomed large as a threat to the Dodgers because of Yu Darvish, who’s viewed as a godfather figure to a generation of Japanese players. Perhaps in deference to the influence that accomplished Japanese players can have on their younger counterparts, Sasaki’s camp specifically instructed teams not to bring current players to the presentations in Westwood. But no such restrictions existed in the final round.

The Padres’ welcoming party included Darvish and Manny Machado, two veterans who took the lead in hosting Sasaki. Also present were Joe Musgrove, Jackson Merrill and Ethan Salas, a teenage prospect the Padres billed as their catcher of the not-so-distant future. Sasaki toured Petco Park and threw on the field — thus staying on his throwing schedule — while experiencing the temperate conditions that appeal to so many players.


Manny Machado and Yu Darvish were among the Padres who tried to recruit Roki Sasaki. (Kirby Lee / USA Today)

By Wednesday, with Sasaki actively weighing his options, the opening of baseball’s international signing period brought a final push to secure as much bonus money as possible to entice the Japanese star. Wolfe instructed the remaining clubs to prepare for the contingencies, including the possibility of lining up deals with other teams to obtain more international bonus space if they felt it was necessary. For some, the effort went up to the final hours before Sasaki announced his decision on Instagram.

The Padres told Sasaki’s group that they were prepared to trade to max out their bonus pool, according to a league source, and offer the Japanese pitcher the entire sum, a little more than $10 million. The Dodgers lined up a potential deal that was ready to go should Sasaki sign, sending 2023 fourth-round pick Dylan Campbell to the Philadelphia Phillies for bonus space. They’d later get more space from the Cincinnati Reds for outfielder Arnaldo Lantigua.

By Friday morning, the Blue Jays were still trying to maneuver and demonstrate their willingness to push forward, finalizing a trade with the Cleveland Guardians for $2 million in international bonus pool space. They did so even though the move required them to take on most of what’s left on Myles Straw’s contract, $11.8 million.

The Blue Jays believe Straw, a one-time Gold Glove center fielder who spent most of last season at the Triple-A level, could still be a useful player and that his salary will not be prohibitive. But sensing the Dodgers were the favorites, the Jays seemed determined to prove to Sasaki they were willing to do everything possible to land him.

It was a dubious strategy, especially without a deal in place, prompting one rival executive to say, “My phone has been blowing up all day with ‘wtf Jays.’” An executive still involved in the process took note of the Blue Jays adding to the pool of money they could offer Sasaki, but took some solace in the fact that Wolfe had given the remaining clubs similar instructions. But the Blue Jays’ motivation was clear: They hoped that their push for Sasaki would end differently from their failed runs at Ohtani and Juan Soto, which only teased the fan base and further framed the franchise as perpetual runners-up.

“In anything like this, there’s going to be a winner,” a league source said. “And then 29 losers.”

Of course, the one eventual winner was already on the verge of securing a player they believe will be key to their global ambitions.


Andrew Friedman poses for a photo with Shohei Ohtani on Dec. 14, 2023. (Meg Oliphant / Getty Images)

It came as no surprise that the Dodgers were seen as the front-runners to land Sasaki, especially since they’d stated their aim 12 months earlier. As they introduced Ohtani as a Dodger on what was the richest contract the sport had ever seen, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman saw a door opening and declared the franchise’s intentions that day: “One of our goals is for baseball fans in Japan to convert to Dodger blue.”

He bolstered his case within a matter of weeks, signing Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a record $325 million contract, the richest ever for a pitcher.

With Sasaki, the Dodgers submitted their pitch shortly after the pitcher was officially posted. Their presentation centered around the city of Los Angeles, which boasts a strong Japanese-American population. It spoke to the organizational continuity that has led to postseason runs in every season since 2013. Stability became a topic they’d continue to hammer in their recruiting efforts, particularly as a contrast to the ongoing legal battle surrounding the rival Padres’ ownership group. More than anything, the Dodgers laid out their development plan and how they hoped to make Sasaki better.

Few teams have done a better job finding and maintaining velocity, but too often it came at the cost of major surgery. While the Dodgers generally succeed at getting homegrown pitching talents to the big leagues, they’ve struggled to keep them healthy. Though the Dodgers have long chosen upside with a high tolerance for injury risk, this recent trend was enough for Friedman to call for a self-audit of the organization’s practices.

The club’s pitching brass was on hand in Westwood to lay out their processes. A group that included Friedman, general manager Brandon Gomes, manager Dave Roberts and ownership also included at least one other prominent face.

Knowing of Sasaki’s affinity for basketball, the Dodgers brought part-owner Magic Johnson. The Hall of Famer signed a personalized jersey that he gave to Sasaki at the end of the meeting, which ran past the 90-minute limit because the pitcher’s questions prolonged the back-and-forth.

That interest last month seemed to bode well for the Dodgers on Tuesday, when their turn came to host Sasaki. Just as the Padres and Blue Jays had done, the Dodgers greeted Sasaki with a full complement of players. Former MVPs Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts were in attendance, as were Sasaki’s future backstop, Will Smith, and the freshly-extended Tommy Edman. But the biggest star of them all was Ohtani, a teammate at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, who one official said was “driving the bus” in the effort to land Sasaki.

The meeting with Sasaki did not take place at Dodger Stadium, which is in the midst of multimillion-dollar renovations to each of the clubhouses and overall facilities. Instead, the Dodgers invited Sasaki and his camp to part-owner Peter Guber’s home in Bel Air. Aiming for a more relaxed atmosphere, a sushi chef was hired to come to Guber’s house and prepare dinner. The chef worked as Sasaki sat on the couch and chatted with his future teammates, who each vouched for what life was like with the reigning World Series champions.

At one point in the night, the Dodgers played a video featuring personalized messages from a litany of players — including some new to the franchise — speaking to the franchise’s treatment of their families and their player development staff along with how eager they were to be teammates with Sasaki. The goal of the video, according to one official, was to emphasize how welcome Sasaki would be in the star-studded clubhouse.

It was the Dodgers who got the final word.

On Friday morning, Wolfe informed clubs still in the process of how the news would be released. As Sasaki announced his decision on Instagram, the agent planned to text the teams that missed out. He’d then follow up the post with a phone call to the winner.

It didn’t go as planned. Minutes before the decision was made official, Dodgers brass got the scoop from another source.

“We got him,” read the text message from Ohtani. They’d aced the assignment.

(Photo: Lucas Stevenson / WBCI / MLB Photos via Getty Images)



Fuente

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR