The Los Angeles Dodgers hope to sign Roki Sasaki this winter, and as a result, the stars are in full recruiting mode. Dodgers starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow told Foul Territory that he spoke with Sasaki on the phone to pitch why Los Angeles is the place to be.
“I talked to him on the phone,” Glasnow said Thursday on Foul Territory. “It was a pretty quick phone call.”
Glasnow and Sasaki have the same agent, Joel Wolfe of Wasserman. Wolfe revealed earlier this offseason that Sasaki is putting a focus on pitching development as he narrows down his choices.
“We’ve had numerous conversations about team location, market size, team success — things like that,” Wolfe said. “He doesn’t seem to look at it in the typical way that other players do. He has a more long-term, global view of things. I believe Roki is also very interested in the pitching development and how a team is going to help him get better both in the near future and over the course of his career.”
Glasnow said he happened to call Wolfe while he was with Sasaki, which led to the Dodgers star making an impromptu recruiting pitch.
“I mentioned too, I haven’t played for the other two organizations, but if one of your main goals is to become the best pitcher you can possibly be, development-wise, scouting report-wise, all that stuff, this is the place to be,” Glasnow said.
Glasnow could not have made a better pitch, especially because it only reaffirmed the Dodgers’ superiority in pitching development. Additionally, Sasaki got to hear directly from a starting pitcher who has been in the league since 2016.
Now, it’s just a waiting game.
The Dodgers are going all in on Sasaki. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said at the Winter Meetings signing Sasaki was a “major priority” for the team.
“He’s someone that is obviously a major priority for us,” Friedman said. “We’re going to do whatever we can, and know that there are a lot of other teams that are going to do the exact same thing.”
The organization has also put all other international signings on hold amid Sasaki’s free agency frenzy. As a result, the Dodgers have lost other international signees to other teams. But it’s only an indication the Dodgers are relatively optimistic about their chances to land the Japanese phenom.
