Was Dodgers sketchy Roki Sasaki recruiting textbook tampering? Why it doesn't matter

Roki Sasaki signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers a little under a week ago, and had his introductory press conference on Wednesday afternoon. While Sasaki entertained offers from other teams and even had his own final three – the Padres, Blue Jays and Dodgers – only one of those teams employs two Japanese stars the 23-year-old has grown very familiar with over the years.

Sasaki was always going to be a Dodger, despite reports to the contrary meant to stir up contract negotiations or provide the charade that Los Angeles weren't the obvious favorites. In his press conference, Sasaki claimed he was most impressed with their organizational stability and pitcher development program, two talking points his agent Joel Wolfe voiced well before the official international signing period.

Dodgers players met with Roki Sasaki before international signing period

An article by Jack Harris of Yahoo goes into detail about the recruitment of Sasaki by Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, as well as Dodgers teammates Mookie Betts, Will Smith, Tyler Glasnow and more.

"In December, Ohtani and Yamamoto took Sasaki to dinner, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly. The topics discussed are unknown," Harris wrote.

Well, who am I to suggest what those topics were? I'm sure none of it had to do with Sasaki's pending free agency or the team he was favored to sign with.

"But weeks later, the meal has become one of the many examples of how Dodgers players pushed to bring Sasaki to Los Angeles," Harris continued.

Per a person with knowledge of these conversations, the Dodgers stars wanted Sasaki to know how excited they were about the prospect of him joining their team. Never mind that Wolfe asked teams that no players play a part in the early stages of their pitches – evidently the Dodgers do not count.

Did the Dodgers players tamper with Roki Sasaki?

The Dodgers will not be charged with tampering. I'll be clearer about that than Sasaki was with his predetermined rules for interested clubs.

Back in 2018, Aaron Judge was in hot water for suggesting soon-to-be free agent Manny Machado "would look good in pinstripes." The media was in an uproar, and MLB gave Judge a slap on the wrist, as this could be construed as recruiting. Here are the official tampering rules, per FanGraphs:

"TAMPERING. To preserve discipline and competition, and to prevent the enticement of players, coaches, managers and umpires, there shall be no negotiations or dealings respecting employment, either present or prospective, between any player, coach or manager and any Major or Minor League Club other than the Club with which the player is under contract, or acceptance of terms, or by which the player is reserved or which has the player on its Negotiation List, or between any umpire and any baseball employer other than the baseball employer with which the umpire is under contract, or acceptance of terms, unless the Club or baseball employer with which the person is connected shall have, in writing, expressly authorized such negotiations or dealings prior to their commencement."

Technically Sasaki was not on a roster at the time of these Dodgers dinners, but 'or by which the player is reserved or which has the player on its Negotiation List' certainly sounds like it would apply to him, no? Tampering in its simplest form is the unauthorized communication between free agents and interested teams. Ohtani, Yamamoto and Co. could be construed as representatives of the Dodgers, especially if they're discussing official business.

The sad truth is whether the Dodgers tampered or not, Sasaki was always going to sign there. That is why MLB would be wasting its time reopening any investigation. Sasaki and Wolfe made a mockery of the process, and none of this matters.