Roki Sasaki to sign with Dodgers

Dim13

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The mucky muck
On the bright side, they're going to have to start DFAing their great players to have room for their really great players.
 

DeadlySplitter

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Probably the most hilarious thing today is that the Guardians were able to find a way to offload 3/4ths of Myles Straw to a desperate team... that everyone knew would never get Sasaki, anyways
 

Sad Sam Jones

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Probably the most hilarious thing today is that the Guardians were able to find a way to offload 3/4ths of Myles Straw to a desperate team... that everyone knew would never get Sasaki, anyways
It's a decade late but this is better than anything Ross Atkins ever did for Cleveland during the entire time they employed him.
 

pk1627

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Almost wish they didn’t win it all last year. But the alternative was worse. They have taken over as the one team that can get whatever player they wish.

Sorry
 
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simplicio

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I truly hope after that necessary WS win that they resume their habit of immediately choking in the DS every year for the remainder of Ohtani’s contract.
 

dynomite

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I really have no problem with the Dodgers. Better they dominate than the Yankees.
Same here, I have no problem watching Mookie and Dave Roberts thriving and winning World Series, and they're safely in the NL.

If the League and fans want to end the era of deferred contracts and superteam juggernauts, I believe the current CBA expires in December 2026? Could be well timed as the beginning of the next Red Sox championship window...
 

simplicio

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If the League and fans want to end the era of deferred contracts and superteam juggernauts, I believe the current CBA expires in December 2026? Could be well timed as the beginning of the next Red Sox championship window...
Unless there's a lockout that kills a full season.
 

Stanley Steamer

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Is it just me, or does the fact the Dodgers appear to have the market cornered on Japanese big-time talent start to feel like an unfair business advantage?
I recognize that they are a well-run organization, and merely taking advantage of the situation they are in. I'm also not naive to the economics of baseball.
Still, they have persistent advantages over most other teams as a destination: relative proximity to Japan, fair-sized Japanese population, warm Pacific climate, Hollywood, etc. And they are prepared to spend money, albeit with deferrals to avoid penalties. It seems like the domestic and international drafts are used as tools to level the playing field among teams being able to attract talent. Is it time to institute some control over this influx of free agents? Maybe so, maybe not.
At any rate, a super team is being built, and ought to dominate the sport for a long time. The Sox, and to a greater degree the Yankees, had a competitive advantage for years. That has been curbed over time. Teams are free to spend what they want, including luxury tax implications, but the LA Dodgers appear to have an advantage in attracting this current generation of Japanese superstars.
 

EddieYost

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It reminds me a bit of how the Canadiens used to get all the best players from Quebec.
 

simplicio

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soxhop411

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Fangraphs had Darell Morel (the kid PIT signed out of a LAD commit) as their highest ranked commitment at #30. They usually have a guy in the top 10 at least; it's a little suspicious that this was the year they're suddenly non-competitive in that market for the first time since 2018?
Yup
 

pokey_reese

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Is it just me, or does the fact the Dodgers appear to have the market cornered on Japanese big-time talent start to feel like an unfair business advantage?
I recognize that they are a well-run organization, and merely taking advantage of the situation they are in. I'm also not naive to the economics of baseball.
Still, they have persistent advantages over most other teams as a destination: relative proximity to Japan, fair-sized Japanese population, warm Pacific climate, Hollywood, etc. And they are prepared to spend money, albeit with deferrals to avoid penalties. It seems like the domestic and international drafts are used as tools to level the playing field among teams being able to attract talent. Is it time to institute some control over this influx of free agents? Maybe so, maybe not.
At any rate, a super team is being built, and ought to dominate the sport for a long time. The Sox, and to a greater degree the Yankees, had a competitive advantage for years. That has been curbed over time. Teams are free to spend what they want, including luxury tax implications, but the LA Dodgers appear to have an advantage in attracting this current generation of Japanese superstars.
Seems like a chicken-egg thing, though, no? Does Miami have an unfair advantage getting Cuban players, and are just not interested in spending money? Or didn't attract the first good one, that would create the chain reaction? While I agree with you in terms of the effect, I'm not sure about the cause being an issue of unfairness. Players are people, who have a right to go where they want, and it makes sense that once Ohtani went to LA, they would have an advantage even over the other west coast teams, especially considering that they are ALSO offering the biggest market, the most money, and the best chance of winning a World Series. Can you blame the players for choosing that situation? And really, do you want to blame the league for allowing them to do what they want?

It's a tough balance, where as fans we want to think that competitive balance is important, but only because our team isn't the one getting the best players right now. When the Sox were consistently a top-3 team in payroll, there wasn't a lot of complaining around Boston that a hard cap should be instituted. It would take an international draft system to fix this, but that feels like a very anti-labor solution to me. Sasaki made what feels in retrospect like a preordained decision, but it was his choice to make. The Dodgers have made themselves the preferred destination for the current generation of top Japanese players, but there are also so few of them. If the Braves attracted a few top Dominican players, would we have this same discussion, or not notice because the pool is larger?
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Is it just me, or does the fact the Dodgers appear to have the market cornered on Japanese big-time talent start to feel like an unfair business advantage?
I recognize that they are a well-run organization, and merely taking advantage of the situation they are in. I'm also not naive to the economics of baseball.
Still, they have persistent advantages over most other teams as a destination: relative proximity to Japan, fair-sized Japanese population, warm Pacific climate, Hollywood, etc. And they are prepared to spend money, albeit with deferrals to avoid penalties. It seems like the domestic and international drafts are used as tools to level the playing field among teams being able to attract talent. Is it time to institute some control over this influx of free agents? Maybe so, maybe not.
At any rate, a super team is being built, and ought to dominate the sport for a long time. The Sox, and to a greater degree the Yankees, had a competitive advantage for years. That has been curbed over time. Teams are free to spend what they want, including luxury tax implications, but the LA Dodgers appear to have an advantage in attracting this current generation of Japanese superstars.
At some point, even the Dodgers will run out of roster spots and not be able to take on every coveted superstar that hits the market.