"I don't want to eat raw fish, I've already decided to go to the Dodgers..." Did I play with Sasaki? Furious San Diego 'Humming'
"I don't want to eat raw fish, I've already decided to go to the Dodgers..." Did I play with Sasaki? Furious San Diego 'Humming'
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San Diego Padres players openly showed their grudge against "Japanese monster pitcher" Rocky Sasaki (24), who went to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He attended the meeting to recruit Sasaki, but apparently felt sorry for his choice of "global rival" Dodgers.
The San Diego club held a fan festival at Petco Park in San Diego, California on the 2nd (Korea time). At the meeting with the fans, some players commented on Sasaki.
The San Diego Padres, along with the Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays, competed with each other as the final candidates for Sasaki recruitment. Major players including star third baseman Manny Machado, Japanese pitcher Darvish, and All-Star outfielder Jackson Merrill attended the meeting, but Sasaki decided to go to the Dodgers. He announced his plan to go to the Dodgers through his SNS account on April 18. The down payment is 6.5 million U.S. dollars.메이저사이트
Even before the posting, Sasaki was strongly linked to the Dodgers. "Some say that he already signed with the Dodgers," said Dallas Keuchel, a former Cy Young pitcher who worked with Sasaki at the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese pro baseball league, raising suspicions over tempering.
The San Diego Padres also went to the Dodgers as expected. "It's my personal opinion, but I think we've already decided where Sasaki will go," Machado said, adding that he had a meeting with the San Diego Padres after deciding early on to go to the Dodgers.
Macha also flatly said, "I don't think so," regarding the story that San Diego's unstable situation, in which the owner's family dispute over the management rights of the club, would have influenced Sasaki's decision.
Recalling the meeting with Sasaki, Merrill smiled bitterly, saying, "It was cool. But I didn't want to eat raw fish for a while since then, and I will just say that." The remark is highly thoughtful in that it could lead to racial discrimination depending on the scope of interpretation.
Darvish, who is also a Japanese pitcher, lowered his tone. "We did everything we could. He gave us a great welcome, but we have no choice because it is Sasaki's decision," he said, sending a message of support, saying, "I hope that we can throw the ball for a year by carefully managing the gap between the two sides. There will be things to overcome in the future, and if you rely on me, I want to help."
Sasaki played with Darvish in the Japanese national baseball team of the 2023 World Baseball Classic. She teamed up with Darvish to learn sliders, and successfully diversified her pitches by breaking away from the four-seam fastball and forkball combination. Due to this relationship, Sasaki's chances of going to San Diego were weighed, but this did not happen.
What's more regrettable about Sasaki's trip to the Dodgers is that the San Diego Padres do not have any significant reinforcement of power this winter. Rather, key players such as shortstop Kim Ha-sung (Tampa Bay Rays), outfielder Jurickson Profar (Atlanta Braves), bullpen pitcher Tanner Scott (Dodgers), and infielder Donovan Solano (Seattle Mariners) escaped to the FA.
In addition to Sasaki, the power gap widened with the winning Dodgers, which boosted its power by recruiting starting pitcher Blake Snell, reliever Scott, Kirby Yates, infielder Kim Hye-sung and outfielder Michael Confoto.
Machado said, "It's unfortunate that we haven't been able to strengthen our capabilities, but we have to prepare well for a long season with the players here. Our goal is to win the World Series as always." Merrill maintained his confidence, saying, "We can overwhelm any team." Darvish also said, "We don't have much power reinforcement, but when you look at the clubhouse, we still have a lot of good players. We have to do our best with the players we have now."