Rōki Sasaki, the 23-year-old phenom from Japan whose services for the next six seasons could be procured by every Major League Baseball franchise for the equivalent of a rounding error, ended his six-week recruiting period by agreeing to sign with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday,

Rōki Sasaki might be the best free agent still available for MLB. Here is everything to know about the Japanese superstar.

Sasaki, nicknamed in Japan as "the Monster of the Reiwa Era," struck out 11 batters in 7 and ⅔ innings with a 3.52 ERA during the 2023 WBC. In Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, he struck out 129 hitters in 111 regular-season innings for the Marines in the 2024 season.

The Dodgers cemented their status as the preferred MLB destination for NPB stars and transformed their rotation into a Mount Rushmore of Japanese pitching luminaries by winning the Rōki Sasaki sweepstakes.

Baseball fans have the same complaint after Japanese star pitcher Rōki Sasaki signed with the star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers.

Usually, the big story for the Texas Rangers when the international free agency signing period begins is the race to gobble up players and max out the team’s bonus pool allotment. Not so much this year.

The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes are winding down, with finalists emerging and teams being informed that they're out of the running.

With just two days before the window to sign him opens, the field for star Japanese right-hander Rōki Sasaki has narrowed.

Has a decent long-term outlook with a pair of starting pitching prospects — Kumar Rocker and Alejandro Rosario — ranked among MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospects. Maybe that sounds like a modest boast, but it equals the total for the Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays combined.

The Toronto Blue Jays appear to be in on Rōki Sasaki. According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Blue Jays met with the Japanese ace in Toronto recently.

The mighty Dodgers, that Evil Empire on the West Coast, have struck again, signing Japanese phenom Rōki Sasaki.