The Los Angeles Dodgers are determined to win the Sasaki Loki recruitment match, which has been compressed into three teams.먹튀검증
According to Dodgers Nation on the 16th (Korea Standard Time), the Dodgers are considering a trade to increase the down payment of international prospects to Sasaki.
Sasaki has to sign an international prospect contract because he is not yet 25.
Major League Baseball teams can only spend international prospect down payments within the set amount each year.
The problem is that the bonus pool varies from $5.1 million to $7.5 million, with the Dodgers at $5.1462 million, the least along with San Francisco among the 30 major league teams.
San Diego and Toronto, which are still in the Sasaki recruitment match with the Dodgers, have $6.2616 million each, which is more money to give to Sasaki than the Dodgers.
The Dodgers can increase the international prospect down payment limit to up to $8.23 million through the trade.
On the other hand, the maximum limit San Diego and Toronto can increase is $10.2 million.
The Dodgers already executed three trades to increase the down payment cap for international promising players. Three minor league prospects, including Darrell Morrell (Pittsburgh Pirates), Orlando Patinya (Chicago White Sox), and Taillon Serrano (Minnesota Twins), have changed their uniforms.
"Dodgers officials have discussed with several teams the possibility of securing more international prospect down payments through the trade," the LA Times said.
However, it is known that Sasaki does not prioritize financial conditions in choosing a destination.
Sasaki agent Joel Wolf made it clear that money was not a motivation for Sasaki. If money was a motivation, Sasaki would have waited two more years to join the Major League as a free agent, and he could have won a similar contract with Yoshinobu Yamanoto, who signed with the Dodgers for 12 years and $325 million.
"The condition I want to give Sasaki is not to make a decision based on that (monetary conditions)," Wolff said. "Rocky's dream has been to go to the major leagues since high school."
Sasaki is considered the starting pitcher for the Japanese national team, which connects Ohtani. Although he has a weak point of playing fewer games due to frequent injuries, he has long attracted the attention of Major League Baseball due to his strong pitching.
Since his debut in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in 2020, Sasaki has recorded a total of 29 wins and 15 losses with an ERA of 2.10 strikeouts and 505 in 64 games over the past four years. He combines fastballs with speeds of well over 160 kilometers per hour, high-quality splitters and sliders.
Analyzing why the Dodgers need Sasaki, MLB.com said, "The Dodgers are the number one starting pitcher based on the FanGraphic dotcom," but added, "The starting pitchers needed for the Dodgers are related to how much they can rely on returning players such as Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, Tony Gonsolin, and Dustin May. Every year in October, the Dodgers have one to three players with healthy arms, so I can fully say that this team that has everything needs one thing."