Roki Sasaki, the next great thing coming from Japan, is the next great thing.
After a grueling round of conferences with eight MLB groups, Sasaki made announcing via Instagram that he has signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, choosing the reigning World Series champions over the San Diego Padres and the Toronto Blue Jays.
Sasaki joins the United States under international filing regulations as a 23-year-old with four months of professional football practice playing for the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball.
Sasaki may have a big pay day ahead of him, much like Shohei Ohtani did when he chose the Los Angeles Angels as his big-league place in 2018. Ohtani received a$ 2.31 million signing bonus and played for the minimum of$ 545, 000 that season.

The big money in that deal was the$ 20 million posting fee the Angels paid the Nippon-Ham Fighters for Ohtani’s rights.
Sasaki will remain a part of his team for six months before beginning full MLB free company, like Ohtani. It was at the close of that word with the Angels when Ohtani signed a 10-year,$ 700 million deal with the Dodgers,$ 680 million of it deferred.
At age 25 and with seven years of experience pitching for the Orix Buffaloes, Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed for the team as a full-fledged free agent next winter. After a long journey of his own, Yamamoto settled on a 12-year,$ 325 million deal with the Dodgers. Because of his position, the Dodgers didn’t have to pay a posting payment to the Cows.
Sasaki will bring a posting fee equivalent to Ohtani’s.
The amount of money in the international bonus pool varies depending on the club, starting at$ 5.1 million and up to$ 7.5 million, depending on the club’s commitment to signing all of their foreign players for this season. Each year, the share adjustments based on a variety of factors. The Dodgers had$ 5.2 million available to sign Sasaki, who will make$ 760, 000 this season, the current MLB minimum. The Padres had$ 6.3 million.
Sasaki was 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA and 129 strikes in 111 pitches over 18 matches for Chiba Lotte last year. For his four NPB times, he was 29-15 with a 2.10 ERA and 505 flurries in 394 2/3 pitches across 64 activities.
He joins a Dodgers company with a rich history of developing Chinese cups, which started out with Hideo Nomo, who pitched in Los Angeles for seven months. Yamamoto and Ohtani, both of whom are expected to start again this year, are on the team. Ohtani won the National League MVP after recovering from his subsequent hip surgery in 2024 and playing just as a designated hitter. Ohtani has spent the winter recovering from surgery after tore the labrum in his left back while trying to steal second center during the World Series.