The Dodgers already have the most active Japanese-born players in MLB with three, but that hasn’t changed the way they think about the NPB pipeline.
Andrew Friedman made that clear in his exit interview on Wednesday, saying Los Angeles intends to keep tracking some of the biggest names in Japan’s top league.
“Obviously we are a big fan of the NPB and have a lot of respect for the talent in that league,” Friedman said. “And it’s something we follow closely and watch.
Our understanding is there’s a chance there’s a couple of very talented players that are going to potentially come over to the major leagues. And we’re going to continue to meet on that and talk about it.
… We’re excited about having those conversations and watching these guys play out.”
The Dodgers’ interest comes after two overseas additions in Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki immediately made their presence felt.
This winter’s biggest name from NPB is slugging third baseman Teruaki Sato of the Hanshin Tigers. The Tigers posted Sato on Oct. 19, giving him 45 days to reach a deal with an MLB team after the NPB season ends. He put together a huge year in Japan, launching 39 home runs, driving in 106 runs and finishing with an OPS just shy of 1.000.
Sato leads the group of NPB players who could make the move, but he is hardly the only one. Starters Kaima Taira, Hiromi Itoh and Kona Takahasi are also candidates to head to MLB.
For the Dodgers, the value of their Japanese core has already been on display, especially in October. Shohei Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki took over last postseason, with Ohtani and Yamamoto winning NLCS and World Series MVP, respectively.
Ohtani finished this season with 30 homers and 81 RBIs despite dealing with numerous injuries in what was a down year by his standards. Yamamoto delivered another strong season, logging a 2.533 ERA across a career-high 185 innings with 182 strikeouts.
Sasaki also found his stride late, posting a 2.83 ERA over his final 10 regular-season appearances.
The Dodgers have gotten strong returns from the Japanese talent they’ve brought in, and they’re positioned to keep looking for more.
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