The saga over the signing of Japanese phenomenon Roki Sasaki ended last Friday and the team chosen was the Los Angeles Dodgers, who once again came out on top and demonstrated their negotiating skills to convince players who are in the sights of many teams.
In the current offseason, they failed to attract Juan Soto, they tried knowing that it was a complicated mission and, despite everything, they were among the finalists, but in the previous campaign they kept the two most sought after: Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.Ohtani was instrumental in convincing Yamamoto, and the chain continued for this winter’s market, in which the two Japanese players helped the Dodgers to convince Sasaki that joining them was the best option to start his career in Major League Baseball.
Dodgers’ strategy with Ohtani-Yamamoto to attract Sasaki
According to Dodgers Tailgate, the Los Angeles team did its homework to show Roki Sasaki that there was a plan to take his career forward. The Japanese pitcher was more interested in a plan on how they could help him improve, particularly his pitching technique with his splitter, rather than thinking about a multi-million dollar income during his first few years
The mission of each team was to propose a plan to diagnose the drop in their fastball and how they could fix it, to maximize the potential of their fastball.
Each of the suitors had 90 minutes to make a presentation at the Wasserman Sports Agency headquarters in Los Angeles, but what tipped the scales in the Dodgers’ favor was the evidence of how their analytics systems have improved player performance.
Shohei Ohtani on Roki Sasaki: “We got him”
The final meeting was key, as he was welcomed at the Bel Air mansion of one of the owners, Peter Guber, where the main figures were present, led by Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, accompanied by Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith.
In the meeting, they sought to have a relaxed atmosphere, there was a chef specializing in sushi, and they played a video in which all the stars welcomed him.
The Dodgers made it clear to Sasaki that they had a plan to enhance his career and that they were willing to take extra responsibility to take care of him from injury, even talking about a six-man rotation. But in addition to all this strategy, Shohei Ohtani played a key role. He was his teammate in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and was even the one who broke the news to the executives with a text message: “We got him.”