February 15, 2025
Roki Sasaki Signs Takeaways: How Much Will He Earn? How good could the Dodgers’ rotation be?

Roki Sasaki Signs Takeaways: How Much Will He Earn? How good could the Dodgers’ rotation be?

The Dodgers’ offseason wouldn’t necessarily have been a failure if they had missed out on Japanese star pitcher Roki Sasaki.

But by agreeing to sign the 23-year-old star right-hander on Friday, the club ensured he was the envy of the sport for the second year in a row.

Sasaki’s decision to play for the Dodgers on a standard minor league contract with a modest $6.5 million signing bonus suddenly changes the club’s short- and long-term future.

He will be another cog in their plans to become world champions again next season. Meanwhile, his highly affordable contract – which Sasaki was limited to because he arrived from Japan before the age of 25 and was therefore classified as an international amateur – could make him a cost-effective cornerstone for years to come.

Read more: The Dodgers sign Japanese star Roki Sasaki, making it another free agency win for LA

It’s all part of the reason the Dodgers have watched the young flamethrower so closely in recent years – why they made signing him a “top priority” this winter, as president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman put it.

Now that they’ve done it, they seem as prepared as ever to turn their decade-plus dominance into an all-out dynasty. Here are three takeaways about the impact of Sasaki’s arrival.

An affordable contract

While Sasaki’s skills alone – a triple-digit fastball, a wipeout splitter and the fluid movement of his 6-foot-4 frame – would have made him a highly desirable free agent target, the financial constraints he faced made him at a generational bargain, similar to when Shohei Ohtani (also 23 at the time) first signed with the Angels in December 2017.

Because Sasaki was classified as an international amateur, putting him on a par with young talent from Latin America, he could only receive a standard minor league contract with a signing bonus limited by the amount of money in his new team’s international bonus pool.

The Dodgers had just $5.146 million in their bonus pool, the smallest amount in the league, but made two trades Friday with the Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds for more and Sasaki’s $6.5 million commitment -dollars to complete.

This will represent the largest outlay of money the team will owe him for a while.

Once Sasaki is signed to the Dodgers Major League roster at the start of the season, the team can only pay him the league minimum salary for his first three seasons. In 2025 it will be $760,000. In 2026 it will be $780,000. The minimum salary for 2027 has not yet been determined. The team could pay him above that amount, but probably wouldn’t exceed it by much.

Starting in 2028, Sasaki will finally be able to earn significant raises through MLB’s arbitration system, although those salaries could still be considered bargains.

Read more: Hernández: By joining the Dodgers, Roki Sasaki emphasizes development rather than being a team’s top star

Ohtani, for example, agreed to an $8.5 million contract with the Angels that covered his first two arbitration seasons in 2021 and 2022 before then negotiating a $30 million salary for 2023. In total, Ohtani earned just under $40 million during his six seasons with the Angels – during which time he won two MVP awards, a Rookie of the Year award and was a three-time All-Star.

If Sasaki lives up to expectations, he could earn a similar (if not slightly higher) amount in his six seasons as team boss. But even accounting for his signing bonus as well, the total financial commitment could represent less than a third of the $182 million the Dodgers gave Blake Snell in a five-year deal this winter, for comparison.

Sasaki will also have the opportunity to increase his earnings in the first three years through MLB’s new Pre-Arbitration Bonus Pool, which rewards top-performing Pre-Arbitration players across the league through a pool of money to which all teams contribute. But that’s not a huge stroke of luck either. This year’s top earner, Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals, earned just an additional $3.1 million. Paul Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ star rookie pitcher, raised another $2.2 million.

A stacked rotation

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow, right, watches teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto.Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow, right, watches teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Tyler Glasnow (right) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (left) are expected to be part of a much deeper starting rotation in 2025. (Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press)

Even after the Dodgers signed Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto last year, it was easy to imagine a scenario in which one or both were injured and the Dodgers endured an initial pitching drop-off.

As we enter 2025, such a catastrophic outcome appears to be far less severe.

With Sasaki on the roster, the Dodgers now have five pitchers with top quality potential: Snell (a two-time Cy Young Award winner), Glasnow (who had a 3.49 ERA last season before getting injured), Yamamoto (the most consistent) . starter during the Dodgers’ World Series run), Sasaki (who had a career 2.10 ERA in Japan) and Ohtani (albeit after a second Tommy John surgery).

They also feature experienced players like Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin (who will be returning from their own long-term injuries) as well as Clayton Kershaw (who is still expected to re-sign with the Dodgers). Additionally, there are plenty of young, capable forces, from Landon Knack to Bobby Miller to Emmet Sheehan (when he returns from injury midseason).

Granted, many of these names will be subject to innings restrictions or injury monitoring next year. The Dodgers didn’t have a pitcher top 150 innings last year. Given the projected use of a six-man rotation in 2025, it’s possible they won’t have one again next year.

But even without perfect injury luck, the Dodgers should have enough depth to absorb most blows — and avoid a trade deadline like last season, when they saved their pitching staff by acquiring Jack Flaherty at the last second.

And then again, in a world where most of their upper arms are healthy and effective, the Dodgers could have one of the most impressive pitching staffs in recent memory.

Not only have they increased the base of their rotation (which was needed after last season’s 19th-place ERA and repeated injury problems). They’ve also raised the group’s ceiling to stratospheric heights, turning one of last season’s biggest weaknesses into a potential strength.

Less pressure on Sasaki

Because of this rotation depth, the Dodgers were likely able to offer Sasaki something few other teams could:

Not only the guarantee of a six-man rotation (which would help emulate the once-a-week pitching schedule he had in Japan), but also the security of knowing that the team can handle any potential growing pains that he might face at the start of his career.

Because even if the Dodgers hope that Sasaki’s Japanese dominance can be immediately transferred to the MLB, that is not necessarily necessary immediately. That might not have been the case with the San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays or any other club that courted Sasaki this offseason.

Read more: Shaikin: Roki Sasaki is a Dodger. Here’s why it’s a great day for baseball

However, the Dodgers are well-positioned to compensate for any difficulties the young pitcher might face, knowing that the rest of their talented pitching staff should be able to pick up any slack.

Sasaki clearly had no illusions about the challenge he faced in the majors. Last month, his agent Joel Wolfe told reporters: “Roki is by no means a finished product. He knows it and the teams know it. He is incredibly talented. We all know that. But he’s a guy who wants to be great.”

True greatness could take some time to arrive, especially after Sasaki struggled with shoulder fatigue and a slight decline in fastball velocity last season. Evaluators believe the right-hander could benefit from the addition of another breaking pitch or at least further improvement to the slider he currently combines with his fastball and splitter.

The Dodgers have a track record of helping pitchers make such improvements. And given their surplus supply of pitching talent, they should also be able to give Sasaki time to achieve those successes – and fulfill his tantalizing potential without the pressure to perform like an ace right away.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

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