This weekend, we learned that Japanese sensation Roki Sasaki, 23, would be posted this offseason. He will be free to sign with any major league team, at an incredibly affordable rate. This is similar to what Shohei Ohtani did when he came to the United States, signing with the Los Angeles Angels.

Former American League Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel played in Japan for part of the 2024 season and was teammates with Sasaki.

He recently spoke with Joel Sherman of the New York Post, giving a detailed and highly glowing assessment of the right-hander.

“He’s a curious young man, very calm, even for his own Japanese culture,” Keuchel said. “But I think he loves winning and I think he loves baseball, so you can’t really ignore that. I think he literally wants to be the best version of himself that he can be. And I really believe he thinks he can be one of the best pitchers of all time.

Keuchel also complimented Sasaki’s fastball speed and offspeed offerings, including his excellent splitter. He also implied that Sasaki was a good teammate and easy to be around.

In baseball circles, the Los Angeles Dodgers are considered the heavy favorites to sign Sasaki. They are already very present in Japan with Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The three played together for Team Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. It probably cannot be ruled out that Yu Darvish once played for the Dodgers and that Hideo Nomo played with them after arriving in the United States also.

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