Roki Sasaki’s agent fires back at Dodgers rumors

The agent for Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki fired back at rumors suggesting his client already has a handshake agreement in place with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Speculation within MLB is that Sasaki and the Dodgers already have some sort of informal agreement for him to sign there once the next international free agency period opens, to the point that teams have raised the issue with the

office of commissioner Rob Manfred, according to Evan Drellich of The Athletic. The speculation reached the point that Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe of Wasserman, vehemently denied the claims.

“While a bunch of executives who should know me better and do a lot of business with me insult my integrity by insinuating that I would be a part of some type of nefarious agreement, in reality, this is just poor sportsmanship,” Wolfe told The Athletic.

Sasaki is not expected to officially sign with a team until after Jan. 15 of next year. At that point, each team’s international bonus money will refresh itself, theoretically giving more teams the opportunity to get involved in the Sasaki market. That has not stopped the Dodgers rumors, and Sasaki has been linked with the team ever since it was revealed that he would be posted this offseason.

In spite of that, there has been some pushback suggesting that the Dodgers may not even be the favorites to sign Sasaki.

The 23-year-old right hander is regarded as one of the best pitching prospects ever to come out of Japan. He has a 2.10 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP, and 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings over four total NPB seasons.

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Dodgers Star $71 Million Outfielder Projected To Cut Ties With Los Angeles For Twins

The Los Angeles Dodgers found a steal in the last winter’s free agency class when they inked outfielder Teoscar Hernández to a one-year deal. Hernández was great in a Dodgers uniform and ultimately helped carry the team to a World Series championship at the end of the 2024 season. But now Hernández is a free agent and he’s able to sign anywhere he’d like. He voiced in the past that he wants to remain with the Dodgers, but at the end of the day, money talks. FanSided’s Nick Villano doesn’t expect Hernández to return to the Dodgers in 2025. Instead, he projects the

star outfielder to land with the Minnesota Twins in a shocking move. “After how terribly the season ended for the Minnesota Twins, nobody expects them to sit on their heels, right?” Villano wrote. “There’s one complication here, as the Twins are exploring a sale, and teams tend to really watch their books during the sale process, but this is a baseball team that can’t waste an offseason because of that. Also, Hernandez isn’t going to make “change the franchise valuation” money.”

Spotrac projects Hernández to sign a three-year, $71 million deal. The Twins could absolutely afford that kind of contract, especially if the star outfielder is their “big fish” of the offseason. It would be a huge get for the Twins, though I’m not sure the Dodgers let him head out the door very easily. I feel as though the Dodgers will reward his play and his vocal loyalty to the team with a solid contract offer.