The wait is over for one of the biggest prizes of the 2025 MLB offseason, as Roki Sasaki has agreed to a deal with the Dodgers, he announced on Instagram. Sasaki was considered the top remaining free agent, as well as this year's top international prospect.
Sasaki was first put on the radars of MLB fans during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, serving as Shohei Ohtani's teammate on Team Japan. The flamethrowing righty was part of a dominant rotation consisting of himself, Ohtani, 13-year MLB vet Yu Darvish, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who signed with the Dodgers ahead of the 2024 regular season.
The 23-year-old Sasaki has been in the NPB in Japan since 2021. He has been an NPB All-Star twice and joins the MLB with the NPB record for strikeouts in a single game (19) as well as the world record for 13 consecutive strikeouts in a single game.
As Sasaki joins the Dodgers, let's take a look at his unique contract.
Roki Sasaki contract details
The full details of Sasaki's contract haven't yet been revealed, but the signing bonus will likely be the only variable. Why? Sasaki was subject to the amateur free agent process, meaning he will enter the majors on a standard six-year rookie contract that will keep his salary low until he becomes arbitration-eligible after three years of service time.
Still, Sasaki's signing bonus figures to be about as high as the Dodgers can go, even if his free agency wasn't about the money.
How does Sasaki's contract compare to Ohtani's first?
Coming to the U.S. as an amateur international player has its pros and cons. It gets the players to the MLB faster, and allows them to start getting developed here. The negative is that players will make significantly less money as an amateur as opposed to waiting until they are considered a professional.
Everyone knows Ohtani's massive 10-year, $700 million deal he signed with the Dodgers ahead of the season. When he first joined the Angels, however, he signed for only $2.315 million. Ohtani, like other amateur players from Japan, was given a standard minor-league contract. He was with Los Angeles' AL team for so long because he had three years of pre-arbitration control and then two years of arbitration, as is standard for minor league players.
Sasaki's signing bonus has not yet been reported, but he gets a minor league contract. Think of it more like an entry-level contract because the pitcher would still be able to be on the Dodgers' major league roster in 2025 if they so choose.
Roki Sasaki stats in Japan
| League | Age | G | IP | W-L | K | ERA | WHIP |
| JEPL/JPPL | 19 | 16 | 83.1 | 4-2 | 87 | 1.84 | 0.96 |
| JPPL | 20 | 20 | 129.1 | 9-4 | 173 | 2.02 | 0.80 |
| JPPL | 21 | 15 | 91 | 7-4 | 135 | 1.78 | 0.75 |
| JPPL | 22 | 16 | 111 | 10-5 | 129 | 2.35 | 1.04 |
Pitching for Chiba Lotte Marines, Sasaki split time between the Japanese Eastern League and Japanese Pacific League as a rookie in 2021, then spent the past three seasons in the Pacific League. He dominated at each stop despite being younger than most of the competition.
The 6-4 right-hander has been clocked as high as 102.5 mph on his fastball, but he also throws a 90-plus mph splitter, as well as a curveball and more traditional slider. His three-quarter delivery adds some deception to his pitches, which was evident during his 19-strikeout perfect game in 2022.
International player posting process
Players in the NPB that don't have nine years of professional experience, have to be posted for MLB teams. An NPB player will request to be posted by his team in Japan. If that team agrees, they will post the player. MLB teams will have 45 days to negotiate with the player. If he signs with a team, the original NPB team will receive a release fee from the MLB team. If the player doesn't sign, they go back to their NPB team and cannot be posted again until the following offseason.
The release fee is determined through the following process from MLB.com:
"For Major League contracts with a total guaranteed value of $25 million or less, the release fee will be 20 percent of the total guaranteed value of the contract.
• For Major League contracts with a total guaranteed value between $25,000,001 and $50 million, the release fee will be 20 percent of the first $25 million plus 17.5 percent of the total guaranteed value exceeding $25 million.
• For Major League contracts with a total guaranteed value of $50,000,001 or more, the release fee will be 20 percent of the first $25 million plus 17.5 percent of next $25 million plus 15 percent of the total guaranteed value exceeding $50 million.
• For all Minor League contracts, the release fee will be 25 percent of the signing bonus. For Minor League contracts that contain Major League terms, a supplemental fee will be owed if the player is added to the 25-man roster.
• If a posted player signs a Major League contract that contains bonuses, salary escalators or options, a Japanese team may receive a supplemental fee equal to 15 percent of any bonus or salary escalators actually earned by the player, and/or 15 percent of any option that is exercised."
International bonus pool restriction
International players are separated into two categories: amateur and professional. Amateurs are players who are under the age of 25 and haven't spent six years playing professionally in a foreign league. Players that fall under this category are restricted as to what kind of money an MLB team can pull from to pay them. Amateurs have to be paid from a team's international bonus pool. Professionals are treated like any other free agents in the MLB and can sign wherever they want for however much that team is willing to pay them.
MLB teams can't trade draft picks. They can trade international bonus pool money. Each team's pool initially starts between $4.75 million and $5.75 million, and they can acquire up to 60% of their total pool value from trades. This pool is not per person, but the total budget a team has for international players that year.
This means that while a professional like Shota Imanaga signed with the Cubs last offseason for four years and $53 million, an amateur like Sasaki can't make as much, which is why players like him often wait until they qualify as professionals. Sasaki choose to get his U.S. career started earlier, perhaps knowing his first huge contract will come quicker now, too. When Ohtani made a similar move, he got a $2.315 million signing bonus along with a minor league contract.
How old is Roki Sasaki?
Sasaki was born on Nov. 3, 2001, so he will turn 24 after his rookie season. The good news for the Dodgers is that he is about to enter his prime and should be able to be developed relatively cheaply until he needs a new contract after a few years. Sasaki is on a similar trajectory to Ohtani, although at this point, he isn't expected to sign for nearly as big of a contract down the line. If the Dodgers can develop him properly, though, his next contract will rival some of the top pitchers in the game.