It’s possible that the rest of baseball always believed the Dodgers were going to get Roki Sasaki.
However, front-office officials maintain that they were never sure when the organization signed the 23-year-old Japanese sensation pitcher in recent weeks.
It wasn’t until Shohei Ohtani, a fellow Japanese athlete who played with Sasaki in the World Baseball Classic, informed officials that Sasaki had made the decision to sign with Los Angeles.
Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations, laughed and remarked, “Shohei beat the agent to the punch.” The thrill was overwhelming.
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When the Dodgers held a press conference at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday to formally welcome Sasaki, the enthusiasm increased. And as the hard-throwing right-hander gets ready for a much-anticipated maiden major league season, it will only get stronger over the course of the next two months.
Here are five facts that were discovered during Sasaki’s introduction press conference, now that he is formally a Dodger.