The World Series champs have an absurdly deep rotation... and it doesn't currently include Clayton Kershaw Getty Images
In news that hardly qualified as surprising, star Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki will sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he announced Friday. The Dodgers were considered the favorite to sign Sasaki for weeks. For months, really. They were viewed as the favorite to sign him long before it was known whether Sasaki would even be available this offseason.
Because he is only 23, Sasaki is classified as an international amateur free agent, meaning he is limited to a minor-league contract and is subject to the international bonus pools. The Dodgers have a $5,146,200 bonus pool and can trade for an additional 60%. Sasaki is a bargain. A 23-year-old with ace-caliber upside on what will be a league minimum contract in 2025.
We ranked Sasaki as the No. 7 free agent this offseason. Here's the write-up:
Sasaki has been on the global radar since throwing a 19-strikeout perfect game as a 20-year-old in 2022. He combines elite velocity with a devastating swing-and-miss splitter/forkball. Sasaki has dealt with his share of injuries, limiting him to 33 combined starts across the last two seasons. His earning potential is completely suppressed because of his amateur free agent classification. Nevertheless, a fully actualized Sasaki has a chance to be an immediate impact starter in the majors.
Sasaki is likely the final big move in an offseason that has seen the Dodgers re-sign Teoscar Hernández and Blake Treinen, and also sign two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell, star Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim, and slugging outfielder Michael Conforto. The Dodgers also locked up NLCS MVP Tommy Edman to a long-term extension. The rich have gotten richer.
The heaviest lifting is done, though it is unlikely the Dodgers are completely finished with their offseason work. Here's what the defending World Series champions still have to get done before reporting to spring training next month.
Re-sign Kershaw
Franchise legend Clayton Kershaw said he intends to pitch in 2025, and it's hard to see him finishing his career with another team. Kershaw missed much of last season with shoulder surgery and a toe injury, and he will turn 37 in March. The Dodgers are likely to use a six-man rotation in 2025 with Shohei Ohtani coming off elbow surgery, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto both having arm trouble last year, and Sasaki (whose career high is 129 1/3 innings) adjusting to life in the majors. A six-man rotation would work wonderfully for Kershaw at this point in his career. Surely re-signing the future Hall of Famer is on the team's to-do list, right?
Re-sign Hernández
Not Teoscar. They re-signed him already. Enrique Hernández remains an unsigned free agent, however, and the Dodgers do have room for the super utility man on their bench. That would involve sending Andy Pages back to Triple-A, though injuries happen, and I'm sure Pages will get another opportunity at some point in 2025. Hernández's do-whatever-you-need-me-to-do skill set is very valuable and fits the mold the Dodgers prefer. Some player/team marriages just work. Hernández and the Dodgers is one of them. Another one-year deal to make it nine seasons in Los Angeles feels like a thing that should happen.
Trade a starter?
Assuming the Dodgers re-sign Kershaw, they will have eight starters for six rotation spots, plus depth beyond them in Triple-A. The rotation depth chart looks something like this at the moment:
RHP Shohei Ohtani (did not pitch in 2024 after elbow surgery)LHP Blake SnellRHP Tyler GlasnowRHP Yoshinobu YamamotoRHP Roki SasakiRHP Tony Gonsolin (missed 2024 with Tommy John surgery)RHP Dustin May (missed 2024 with elbow and esophageal surgery)RHP Gavin Stone (will miss 2025 with shoulder surgery)RHP Landon KnackRHP Bobby MillerLHP Justin WrobleskiRHP Ben CaspariusRHP Emmet Sheehan (will miss most of 2025 with Tommy John surgery)RHP Kyle Hurt (will miss most of 2025 with Tommy John surgery)RHP River Ryan (will miss 2025 with Tommy John surgery)
A lot of injuries there, but also a lot of high-quality pitchers, and I didn't even list Kershaw. The Dodgers have a recent track record of trading role players when they begin to get expensive through arbitration (Gavin Lux, Yasiel Puig, Ross Stripling, Alex Wood, etc.) and it stands to reason they could do that again with a surplus starting pitcher.
Gonsolin (two years of control) and May (one year of control) are the obvious candidates for such a trade, though both missed last season with injuries, which will take a bite out of their trade value. That said, starting pitching is always in demand, and there would be no shortage of interest in Gonsolin and/or May. Sasaki gives the Dodgers the option to trade one, if they want to go that route.