The New York Yankees watched the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate the 2024 World Series championship on their own field last October. Then they watched the Dodgers beat them to signing the most widely sought-after pitcher on the free agent market: Roki Sasaki.
It was the second consecutive offseason in which the Dodgers signed a coveted free-agent pitcher from Japan. In Dec. 2023, the Dodgers signed right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million free-agent contract.
The Yankees were interested in signing Yamamoto and Sasaki as well. Friday, general manager Brian Cashman was asked to reflect on the Dodgers’ ability to the two Japanese natives from the franchise that once employed Masahiro Tanaka, Hideki Matsui, and Ichiro Suzuki, among other top Japanese players of their generation.
“It’s not about scouting it,” Cashman told reporters, including Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. “We’re scouting it properly. It’s about trying to find a way to make us the best destination spot for them compared to others. The Dodgers have done a great job of somehow securing those players and making that a destination spot. They obviously had a great recruiter in Shohei Ohtani. That creates a home-field advantage probably because of his relationships over there. They’ve done a very great job cultivating the Japanese market.”
Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers in Dec. 2023. Yamamoto finalized his contract with Los Angeles weeks later, recruited by Ohtani among others.
The Dodgers needed five games to beat the Yankees in the 2024 World Series to secure their eighth championship. Yamamoto and Ohtani, the reigning National League Most Valuable Player, each played key roles during the Dodgers’ postseason run.
Joel Wolfe, the agent to Sasaki and Yamamoto, also used the metaphor of a “home field advantage” to describe the Dodgers’ leg up in luring free agents from Japan.
“I was in Japan many times over the last couple years, but especially this year,” Wolfe said in January. “Every single Dodgers game is broadcast live. So when you wake up every morning in Japan, every (Dodgers) game is on TV because of (Shohei) Ohtani and (Yoshinobu) Yamamoto. They rebroadcast the games in the evening.”
Maybe Ohtani isn’t solely responsible, but clearly the Dodgers’ brand exposure — combined with beating the Yankees in the World Series — didn’t do Cashman any favors with Sasaki this offseason.
