The Dodgers have landed Sasaki.
Wow, shocking.
In other news, the sky is blue and the sun rises and sets every day.
He should change his last name to Durant.
IMO, the fact that the Dodgers have the market cornered on Japanese big-time talent feels like an unfair business advantage, Japan is their new farm system.
I recognize that they are a well-run organization, and merely taking advantage of the situation they are in. I'm also not naive to the economics of baseball.
Still, they have persistent advantages over most other teams as a destination: relative proximity to Japan, fair-sized Japanese population, warm Pacific climate, Hollywood, etc. and they are prepared to spend money, albeit with deferrals to avoid penalties.
It seems like the domestic and international drafts are used as tools to level the playing field among teams being able to attract talent. Is it time to institute some control over this influx of free agents? Maybe so, maybe not.
At any rate, a super team has been built and ought to dominate the sport for a long time, not a question of if they'll continue to win WS titles, but more about how many they will win, if they don't win multiple WS titles moving forward, I'll be stunned.
Does MLB care that their sport will be dominated by one team now for a number of years; I highly doubt MLB gives two ****s.
The Red Sox, and to a greater degree the Yankees, had a competitive advantage for years. That has been curbed over time by the Dodgers. Teams are now free to spend what they want, including luxury tax implications, but the LA Dodgers have an advantage in attracting this current generation of Japanese superstars.
Several MLB front offices are claiming the Dodgers and Sasaki had a deal in place, we'll see if MLB investigates this or not, I tend to doubt it, maybe the Patriots will lose a first round draft pick over this.
The definition of irony; the Patriots were accused for years of cheating their way to 6 SB titles, yet the Dodgers can pull this and no one blinks an eye, must be nice to live in that glass house, or pot, meet kettle.
The Dodgers have become the Patriots, or more to the point, the 2001-2019 Patriots as the current version is beyond terrible, they are no longer hated; the Dodgers are now the most hated team in MLB by all accounts.
Well done, takes a special sort of talent to pull that one off.
Feel free to jump in and dispute this, I'll get my popcorn ready.