Former MLB general manager Jim Bowden accused the Los Angeles Dodgers of alleged foul play when signing Japanese star Roki Sasaki, who became the latest of several world figures to sign for the Californian team.
After Sasaki announced on his social networks the agreement with the Dodgers to play in MLB in the 2025 season, Bowden stated on the program “Foul Territory” that Major League Baseball could launch an investigation after Sasaki’s signing, The Post reported.
“I think you’ll find that there will be several teams that will ask the commissioner’s office to investigate this particular signing,” Bowden said. “There were several directives that believed there was a prearranged deal between the Dodgers and Sasaki before this process started, and before the window came in which you are allowed to negotiate with the player. This, of course, was denied by his side.”
Sasaki cut his long list down to three teams (Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays) before finally signing with Los Angeles on Friday.
Sasaki and Dodgers deny unwritten agreement
In November, Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, publicly denied any claims of an unwritten deal.
“While a group of executives who should know better and do a lot of business with me insult my integrity by insinuating that I would be part of some kind of nefarious deal,” Wolfe told The Athletic. “In reality, this is simply poor sportsmanship.”
MLB commissioner and possible investigation
When asked about these accusations in November, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he did not believe there was any private deal, but mentioned that his office would investigate the matter.
“We’re going to see what happens there,” Manfred told The Athletic. “If there’s any reason to believe that there was a violation of one of our rules, you can be sure that we will investigate thoroughly and try to get to the bottom of it.”
During his free agency, the discourse about Sasaki’s draft finally moved away from the Dodgers, with rumors that the Japanese phenomenon wanted to sign with a small-market team, Bowden explained.
“We were told that probably a small market would make sense because of the problems Sasaki had with the media in Japan,” Bowden said. “We were told that the backups played an important role.”
Bowden went on to claim that almost every MLB executive he spoke to believed Sasaki was a “done deal before the process even started”.
Sasaki made his announcement on Friday, and The Athletic reported that he received a $6.5 million signing bonus.
The Japanese pitcher joins a roster that already includes Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow and should get Shohei Ohtani back from injury.