MLB fans fed up as Dodgers win Roki Sasaki sweepstakes: Best memes, tweets

The Los Angeles Dodgers officially landed top free agent ace Roki Sasaki on Friday.

After weeks of deliberation, the 23-year-old Japanese fireballer did what everyone expected all along. He will join fellow countrymen Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in baseball's deepest rotation, pitching for the reigning World Series champs — and a team with enough firepower to win several more titles before all is said and done.

Sasaki held a career 2.10 ERA in Japan's NPB. He is viewed by many as the best pitching prospect in the world, equipped with a triple-digit fastball and a splitter that leaves hitters in a constant state of 'WTF.' He can also break out a mean slider, giving Sasaki three plus pitches to throw at unsuspecting MLB hitters.

This feels almost unfair. No, definitely unfair. Baseball is always a competitive and unpredictable sport, but the Dodgers are doing their best to stack the odds. There just isn't a team spending as aggressively as LA. Sasaki's not getting much money as an international amateur, but the Dodgers' latest spending spree — on Ohtani, Yamamoto, and others — no doubt set the stage for Sasaki's unsurprising choice.

Los Angeles now has a five-man rotation of pitchers worthy of No. 1 status.

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MLB fans in anguish after Roki Sasaki bucks small-market dream in favor of win-now Dodgers

There was hope that Sasaki would settle for a smaller market, where he'd face less media pressure and get to focus more on player development. Instead, he will join a rotation with a single focus — winning the World Series — and he will be under constant scrutiny, pitching alongside some of the best in the business.

Fans of the other 29 MLB teams are understandably despondent at this news.

As for Dodgers fans? Well, the mood is a bit more jovial.

This is an incredible accomplishment for the Dodgers front office. Yamamoto and Ohtani clearly played a significant role in swaying Sasaki on their side, and now we have a chance to witness one of the filthiest rotations ever in 2025 — and for many years to come.

It's unfortunate for the other 29 teams, who are at such a steep disadvantage, but baseball has a funny way of evening the odds. Before last season, we saw a string of heavy underdogs win the World Series. The Dodgers are Goliath, but as we know, Goliath did not always win.

What will be more fun than watching the Dodgers dominate? Watching them lose, if and when it does eventually happen.

Sasaki made quite a few enemies on Friday. Such is the weight of this decision. He should have what it takes to thrive regardless, but now 29 MLB fandoms are praying for his downfall.