than Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was 25 when he signed with the Dodgers for a record $325 million last offseason. While Yamamoto was the more decorated and durable pitcher in NPB, Sasaki is younger ...

The most intriguing free agent of the offseason will wear Dodger Blue to begin his big league career. Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki has agreed to sign with the Dodgers, he announced in a post on Instagram on Friday afternoon.

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.

With or without Sasaki, there is no doubt that the wins will keep flowing in. The Dodgers are the most resource-rich team in MLB, whether we're talking about their revenue or a farm system that B/R's Joel Reuter ranks 8th in the league.

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

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.

Japanese ace Roki Sasaki made his free-agent decision on Friday ... and he'll be joining a star-studded roster that features Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, his teammates on Japan's title-winning 2023 World Baseball Classic team.

Along with Blake Snell – signed to a five-year, $182 million contract in December. And Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was posted one year ago after seven dominant seasons in Japan, signed a $325 million contract – and was the starting pitcher for four of the Dodgers’ 11 postseason wins.

Editor's Note: The story below originally ran in November, after Roki Sasaki's NPB team pledged to post the Japanese star pitcher. Sasaki announced Friday he was signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Sasaki sure looks like a guy who always had his heart set on the bright lights of Los Angeles.

Couple that with second-year ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the return of Tyler Glasnow ... an All-Star reserve pitcher in 2022 and 2023. Rōki Sasaki's best pitches of the World Baseball Classic ...