This was Shohei Ohtani yet again. This time the Japanese star was Roki Sasaki, who introduced on Instagram he was headed to the Dodgers by merely posting an image of a Dodger hat.
San Diego wanted Sasaki greater than another contender contemplating their lack of rotation depth AND the monetary restrictions that clearly are in place.
Who is aware of if Sasaki can be a entrance line-caliber arm out of the gate however as a result of he’s coming over now as opposed to some years down the highway, the 23-year-old would’ve been underneath contract for six years—and never for $300+ million.
As a substitute, he goes to the Dodgers on an affordable rookie contract, which isn’t one thing Los Angeles wanted like different groups. In any case they’ve Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin Might, Michael Grove and oh yeah, that one man Shohei Ohtani. Clayton Kershaw is predicted again too if he decides to proceed his profession.
Have to be good.
Now the query for the Padres is what’s subsequent. Commerce Dylan Stop and/or Luis Arraez to achieve monetary flexibility and younger, controllable arms? Signal a veteran starter and hope he can stick within the rotation? Place confidence in Matt Waldron and Randy Vasquez? Give Adrian Morejon and/or Bryan Hoeing a shot in Spring Coaching?
These are simply pitching questions.
Jurickson Profar continues to be a free agent. Who’s going to be the DH? Will one other catcher be added on a Main League deal to compete with MartÃn Maldonado and Luis Campusano? What about Ha-Seong Kim doubtlessly returning?
A lot of questions and the large one we’ve all been specializing in hasn’t been answered.
This was my preliminary piece from early Friday morning:
It’s not Jeff Passan so I’m hoping this isn’t right however Francys Romero is reporting the Padres are out on Roki Sasaki, their primary free agent goal this winter.
Listening to from a number of sources that the Padres are out in Roki Sasaki.
They may start their worldwide signings of Jhoan De La Cruz and Carlos Alvarez within the subsequent few hours.
— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) January 17, 2025
Jhoan De La Cruz and Carlos Alvarez appear to be signings they had been going to make earlier than Sasaki grew to become accessible so a minimum of they’re nonetheless getting them however this can be a large blow to the Padres if Romero’s reporting is certainly right.
The Dodgers are coming off a World Sequence and appear to have no cap on how a lot cash they’ll spend. They don’t want Sasaki (2.10 ERA within the NPB) practically as a lot as San Diego does, who hasn’t spent one greenback on a Main League free agent this winter.
Joe Musgrove is out on account of Tommy John surgical procedure, which leaves two spots within the rotation up for grabs (and that’s if Dylan Stop stays). It looks as if they’ll experience with an inner fifth starter however it could be good in the event that they added a few arms for depth and/or to battle for the fourth spot.
A.J. Preller did effectively final 12 months hamstringed in what he might do financially so let’s see how he works his magic in 2025.
