Roki Sasaki indecision has already come back to haunt the Dodgers

As the calendar stretches deeper into January and Spring Training looms, there are still a few pressing bits of offseason business to attend to. One most pressing of all: the free agency of Roki Sasaki, the 23-year-old set to bring frontline stuff on a very team-friendly contract to one very lucky Major League team this season.

Just which team that will be, however, remains a mystery. It seems like the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres remain the frontrunners, but Sasaki has visited with several others, and everyone appears to be in the dark as to which way he's leaning.

And that darkness has begun to cause a whole lot of chaos. While Sasaki has been a star for years in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, his age and relative lack of experience mean he's classified as an international free agent for MLB's purposes. That means he can only be paid out of each team's pool of international bonus money. And that's led to some real headaches around the league, but in L.A. in particular.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.

Dodgers international free agent class takes a hit amid wait for Roki Sasaki

Each team has a specific amount of bonus pool money available, and the nature of MLB's international scouting system is such that said amount is usually accounted for years in advance, as front offices reach preemptive agreements that then become official during each international signing period.

Sasaki, however, has thrown a wrench in that system. Teams weren't sure he would be posted this offseason, and even once he was, they weren't sure whether he'd be posted into the previous international signing window or the new one that began this month. In short, they had no ability to plan their classes around him, and now that he's available, they're having to shuffle some things around.

The Dodgers, in particular, have been busy. According to a recent report, L.A. has released two of its biggest signings of the upcoming period, shortstop Darrell Morel and outfielder Orlando Patino, who were slated to earn a combined $1.5 million in bonus money.

This doesn't necessarily mean that the Dodgers are fully confident that Sasaki is coming to Los Angeles; according to a recent report from Baseball America, teams haven't been informed one way or the other yet, and might not be until next week. Rather, this is L.A. freeing up some money in case it turns out that the righty does indeed want to sign with the team. This signing period's money had been accounted for years in advance, and now changes need to be made if the Dodgers want to have sufficient room to add Sasaki.

And it's worth noting that Los Angeles isn't the only one rearranging things in anticipation of Sasaki eventually signing. Each finalist is caught in the same position, forced to cut bait with other players for the benefit of a star who may never arrive.