The Los Angeles Dodgers add a third Japanese superstar
By THEO KAYSER — sports@theaggie.org
On Jan. 17, 2024, Japanese baseball sensation Rōki Sasaki announced that he would be signing a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, via his Instagram.
The decision came after a long-awaited posting by his former team — the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Much buzz surrounded Sasaki’s arrival to Major League Baseball (MLB) about which team would land the young superstar, and in the end, it was the reigning World Series champion, the Dodgers.
Sasaki’s rise to stardom in the United States accelerated after his performance in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, which helped his team, Japan, triumph over the U.S. in an epic battle. In this tournament, as well as his four seasons in NPB, Sasaki dominated opposing batters with his signature splitter, which has been lauded by scouts as elite, and his high-velocity fast ball. Both of these attributes are suggestive of a relatively smooth transition to MLB in 2025 and his potential to continually thrive in the future.
Many of the expectations that are now being set for Sasaki’s career in the MLB are thanks to his track record relative to his 23 years of age. Others can likely be attributed to the long and ever-growing legacy of Japanese players dominating in the world’s premier league.
Through his signing with the Dodgers, Sasaki is joining two other Japanese players in Los Angeles. One of whom is teammate Shohei Ohtani, sometimes called the “Japanese Babe Ruth” due to his two-way prowess as both a pitcher and batter. Since his signing to MLB in 2018, Ohtani has collected three Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards and has cemented himself as the face of baseball on the global stage.
The other is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who just last season signed the largest-ever free-agent pitching contract when he left NPB to join the Dodgers on a 12-year, 325-million-dollar deal. In his first season stateside, Yamamoto joined Ohtani in leading the Dodgers to a World Series championship.
The history of Japanese baseball runs even deeper in the Dodgers organization, too, as the organization also signed the second-ever Japanese MLB player, Hideo Nomo, in 1994. This came 30 years after the first when Masanori Murakami had a brief two-season stint from 1964 to 1965 with the San Francisco Giants.
Another worth mentioning is the Dodgers’ signing of Chan Ho Park, who became the first Korean player in MLB when he debuted alongside Nomo in 1994. Some have connected the Dodgers breaking ground in the Asian baseball market 30 years ago with their recent success in landing Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki.
Japanese baseball in the U.S. also vastly transcends the Los Angeles market. Notable in any discussion of Japanese baseball is the legendary Ichiro Suzuki — usually referred to by just his first name — who will become the first Japanese player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 27, 2025. Ichiro, known for his reliable contact, lightning speed and fantastical defensive abilities, captured a whopping 99.7% of votes on the 2025 ballot, finishing just one vote shy of joining Mariano Rivera as the only player to ever be inducted unanimously.
Ichiro won the hearts of sports fans everywhere during his magical MLB debut with the Seattle Mariners in 2001, where he collected the MVP, Rookie of the Year, Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards, along with the batting title and an All-Star game selection. This season set the tone for his 19-year career, which has gone down as one of the greatest of any player.
So, while Sasaki is far from the first star to transition from Japanese to U.S. baseball, his path to MLB is a rather unique one.
Traditionally, players coming to MLB from Japan’s NPB or the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) wait until they have turned 25 years old and have played in six seasons in their respective leagues. Once a player has met both of these criteria, they are then allowed to become free agents, meaning they can negotiate with MLB clubs freely.
This was the path taken by Sasaki’s now teammate, Yamamoto, who through this process was able to secure his record-breaking contract last year. Some other stars who used this process include Ichiro and Masahiro Tanaka.
Speculation surrounding Sasaki for the past several years left many questioning when he would make his transition to MLB. In the 2024 offseason, Sasaki reportedly attempted to make the change but was denied by his club, the Marines. If a player, such as Sasaki, attempts to move from NPB to MLB before they meet the above criteria, they are liable to be denied by their club, who have both financial and team performance incentives. Luckily for Sasaki, the Marines granted his request this time around.
At just 23 years old, Sasaki did not meet the requirements to become an MLB free agent, which denoted that he would be categorized instead as an “international free agent.” This meant that any team who wished to sign him could only use funds from their international bonus pool. This explains why Sasaki signed with the Dodgers for a 6.5-million-dollar bonus, a massive bargain compared to what his value likely would have been in the open market. Now Sasaki must wait until, at the earliest, the end of the 2030 season to reach free agency.
While this path is quite uncommon, as it severely limits a player’s immediate earnings, it’s worth noting that it is similar to the journey Ohtani took to MLB. With Ohtani and Sasaki as exceptions, international free agency is generally made up of much younger amateurs from around the globe. This ranges from Latin American 16-year-olds to the occasional high school graduate from Japan, Korea or Taiwan.
In the 2025 season, Sasaki will be looking to establish himself as the newest Japanese superstar in the now trio who headline the roster of the World Series favorite Dodgers. If he meets expectations, he’ll join a long and ever-growing list of baseball icons from the country of Japan. While his supreme abilities deserve all of the praise they are receiving, it’s important to note that he is one in a long line of similarly gifted players and is sure to be followed closely by other stars.
By (Theo Kayser) — sports@theaggie.org
