The Los Angeles Dodgers made Major League Baseball headlines on Friday with the signing of Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki. The contract is a minor league deal, but includes a $6.5 million signing bonus. Here is the reaction from X.
Welcome to Los Angeles and the World Champion Los Angeles @Dodgers Roki Sasaki! It’s a great day to be a Dodger fan! 🙌🏾 pic.twitter.com/UtExlQEmP0
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 18, 2025
Dodgers owner Magic Johnson is shown here giving Sasaki a Los Angeles Lakers jersey as a signing gift. Apparently $6.5 million was not enough!
Japan 🇯🇵 ➡️ LA 🌴
Roki Sasaki joins Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the Dodgers! pic.twitter.com/XNh6KpGt88
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) January 17, 2025
There are now three star Japanese pitchers in the Dodgers rotation as Sasaki joins Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Remember, only Yamamoto pitched for the Dodgers last season as Ohtani was recovering from shoulder surgery.
Roki Sasaki started for Japan in the 2023 WBC semifinal as they defeated Mexico in an intense matchup 👏
Tune in at 8pm ET to relive the reported new Dodgers hurler’s performance, along with Yoshinobu Yamamoto in relief! pic.twitter.com/P2wRv07aCu
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 18, 2025
Sasaki threw four innings in the semifinal game, and gave up five hits and three earned runs. He also had three strikeouts, and gave up one home run. Of the 64 pitches Sasaki threw, 46 were strikes.
Another gutting day. More pain for Blue Jays fans as Sasaki chooses the Dodgers & the Toronto front office spends $11.8 million on a player whose production warrants a minor-league deal
https://t.co/ysaZV1Awsf— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 18, 2025
This is once again a devastating day for the Toronto Blue Jays organization. They were believed to be in the mix until the very end, but just like the way the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes developed a year ago, the Blue Jays finished in second place.
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