Roki Sasaki already knows if he wants to pitch for the Dodgers.
This is purely speculation on my part, but based on what his agent said about him this week at baseball’s winter meetings, how could he not know?
The agent, Joel Wolfe of the Wasserman Media Group, described Sasaki as purposeful. As having a clear vision for his career. As being fiercely determined.
There’s no way Sasaki hasn’t already contemplated whether he wants to share a clubhouse with the greatest player ever to come out of his country — or perhaps any country. There’s no way the 23-year-old fireballer hasn’t thought about whether he wants to play with Shohei Ohtani or against him.
Speaking to reporters at the Hilton Anatole hotel, Wolfe recalled meeting Sasaki for the first time two winters ago. Wolfe was introduced to Sasaki by one of his clients, Yoshi Tsutsugo, who played briefly for the Dodgers.
“I could tell immediately he was determined to come to the U.S. and that he wanted to come early,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe was struck by how Sasaki was prepared to deal with the consequences.
“He knew he was going to be subject to a lot of criticism in the media,” Wolfe said.
That wasn’t exactly how it played out. Last winter, when Sasaki made his initial push to force his way out of Japan, he came under scrutiny by the country’s notoriously aggressive weekly tabloid magazines but continued to receive favorable coverage from the mainstream daily sports newspapers.
