As if this Hot Stove season needed any more juice, Roki Sasaki’s entry into this year’s free agent class has put yet another game-changing talent up for grabs. The Japanese righty already has some of the best pure stuff in the world, and at age 23, he’s yet to scratch the ceiling of his potential. Combine that upside with a bargain-basement contract, and you have the sort of opportunity that simply doesn’t come around very often.
But where will he wind up? Unlike, say, Juan Soto, Sasaki is something of a blank slate. He’s never played in the States before, and he doesn’t have MLB’s preeminent superagent calling the shots for him. We really don’t know what Sasaki might want out of his next team, and that makes it awfully difficult to speculate. Does he want to be on the West Coast? Does he want to be in a big market, or does he prefer relative anonymity? Does he want to be the biggest name on his team’s marquee, or would he be OK playing second fiddle to, say, Shohei Ohtani? Does he want to win a World Series right away, or will he opt for a team with a strong track record of pitching development?
At this point, we’re getting desperate for any piece of actionable information. But just when it seemed like all hope was lost, one bold MLB insider dared to step forward, providing some light in the darkness of the Sasaki sweepstakes … just in the exact opposite way he intended.
Bob Nightengale Jinx points to Roki Sasaki choosing anyone but the Dodgers
The insider in question is USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Perhaps you’ve come across his name before on the rumor mill. But what you may not know is that Nightengale has become notorious over the years as MLB’s foremost jinx: No matter what he says on any topic, odds are pretty good that the inverse will be true very soon.
It could be a no-hitter. Or a team in a slump. Or even a free agency prediction. Whatever Nightengale says, the opposite seems to wind up true more often than not — and nothing will set a fan base off like Nightengale foreseeing something positive happening for their team.
Which brings us to Friday, when Nightengale appeared on The Incline podcast to offer his opinion on all things Hot Stove. That included Sasaki, who Nightengale thinks is more or less a shoo-in to wind up with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
To be clear, the Dodgers are if not the favorite than certainly a favorite for Sasaki’s services. The team has been linked to him for years now, and with Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto already in tow, their track record in landing big-time Japanese players is well-established. It’s possible that the Nightengale’s nailed this one, and we’re all panicking over nothing.
Of course, it’s also possible that history repeats itself, and Nightengale has jinxed yet another fan base. Recent reporting has suggested that Sasaki to L.A. might not be the foregone conclusion we all expected; the San Diego Padres boast one of Sasaki’s best friends in countrymate Yu Darvish, and just about every team will be in on the bidding for the 23-year-old. Even if Nightengale is vindicated here, it seems clear that putting the odds at 98 percent is getting way out over your skis. Which is maybe how you develop a reputation as every baseball team’s grim reaper.
