[Passan] I think SD is a strong place…I think this has to do with pitching development..if he wants to get to FA healthy and one of the best pitchers, then he needs to find somewhere that has shown an ability to keep pitchers both healthy & productive.
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“I think San Diego is a strong place. And not, you know, there’s not a ton of experience that they have, but they do have you Darvish right now. And Darvish is a seminal figure in Roki Sasaki’s life.
I do think the Cubs between Shota Imanaga this past year and Seiya Suzuki before that have become a good destination for Japanese players. And what all of these teams, Jesse, have in common is a willingness to be accommodating, but more than that, an understanding that, like life is different over here and you have to prepare, especially a guy coming over for the first time, you have to prepare, not just him, but prepare everyone else for what is going to come with that. There’s gonna be a bunch of Japanese media that’s gonna be there.”
like I think we need to be careful also about not saying all Japanese players are alike.
They do come from the same culture, but they do also have like different preferences and priorities. Whereas Yamamoto was perfectly fine walking into the den of media that is the Los Angeles Dodgers Clubhouse after Shohei Otani signed there. I don’t know how Sasaki is going to like that idea.
And it seems to be a whole lot easier and more comfortable to go to San Diego or to go to Texas or go somewhere that they don’t have the swarm just waiting around trying to talk with him and communicate every day when he may not want to.
But I also think this has to do more than anything, Jesse, with pitching development. Roki Sasaki is 23.”
“Like he’s a baby. He has a lot of years left. He has had some arm troubles.
And if he wants to get to free agency healthy and as one of the best pitchers in the world, which is those are both priorities for him, then he needs to find somewhere that has shown an ability to keep pitchers both healthy and productive. And that’s where these meetings, I think, they’re going to be real separators.”
“Jesse, who can go to a six-man rotation? Who’s willing to do that? And that’s where it’s interesting looking at some of the fits, right?
San Diego, they have questionable pitching depth at this point, especially if they’ve been talking about trading Dylan Cease. The Dodgers, they could probably go with a six-man rotation. They have enough starting pitching to do that.”
If he wants to stay healthy? Well, that rules out the Dodgers.
“Healthy”. That’s huge for us giving the LA tommy johns is the exact opposite lol
What a sobering offseason.
Shocked nobody is talking about the value of pitching half your games at pitcher friendly petco
The whole “wants to get to FA healthy” is currently the biggest black mark on the assumption he will go to the Dodgers. If I were risking as much on my future health as Sasaki is by coming over now, the Dodgers’ track record of rotation injuries would eliminate them from my list.
Not gonna hold my breath.
I would love Roki to come here, but man I’m just not sure. Lots of reporters and his agent saying things that make it sound like Dodgers wouldn’t be the best fit, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up there anyway because of course he would.
Look, we’re a strong destination for the kid. So are other cities. It’s going to come down to what Roki wants, and sometimes you can be a good destination and the player still has a vibe they feel from another org. If it happens, that will be awesome. If not, we’ll have to pivot and attack the pitching position another way. One player isn’t going to tip the scales. Even if we land Roki, there are other moves that need to happen.
He can compete here, we have had great success with pitchers that have pitched around 100 innings prior (Lugo/king). Roki has been around d 100 pitches per year.
Our pitchers for the most part have been healthy.
We have a good pitching coach, plus pitching lab. Add that with Darvish who is basically a pitching ninja and from Japan.
These are the reasons I give the padres a real chance at landing him. Plus it doesn’t hurt to be on the west coast.
Hope.
It’s gonna come down to two options for him. If he really wants to win now and maximize success in the short term then he’s a dodger without a doubt.
On the other hand if he wants to maximize his potential and focus on success over his whole career then I think he chooses the padres. We gotta hope he chooses the latter option but I wouldn’t be surprised if he joins the dodgers