Yankees or Dodgers: Who’s at the forefront of getting Roki Sasaki?

Roki Sasaki spent four years in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) with the Chiba Lotte Marines, and it has now been revealed that they will offer the player to all interested parties in the MLB.

The 23-year-old Japanese pitcher joined the Marines in 2021 and has performed brilliantly on the pitching mound; he also had a huge role in the last World Baseball Classic in 2023, where Japan was crowned champion.

The pitcher posted a 10-5 record with a 2.35 ERA, 129 strikeouts, 32 walks, and a 1.036 WHIP in 111 innings of work in the NPB.

The Japanese player had started talks with the New York Yankees at the end of last year, but now it has been revealed that his response is negative to a possible arrival with the ‘Bronx Bomber’; for this reason, his arrival to the current World Series champion team has gained strength: Los Angeles Dodgers, with whom he would share a locker room with his compatriots Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

“He’s somebody that’s obviously a big priority for us,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Dodgers Nation during the Winter Meetings. “We’re going to do everything we can, knowing that there are a lot of other teams that are going to do the exact same thing,” he added.

Roki Sasaki is expected to make a decision on January 15, when the international signing period begins; he desires to play in the MLB and to win the World Series, so a team with which he feels chemistry and that can be a contender so the Los Angeles Dodgers could be his next destination.

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