Roki Sasaki’s former teammate pegs Dodgers as favorites to land Japanese ace

Now that the NPB's Chiba Lotte Marines have officially begun the process of ace Roki Sasaki to the MLB, the big question becomes where he is going to sign.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have long been seen as the front runner of the 'Sasaki sweepstakes', despite several teams expressing sincere interest in the 23-year-old righty. Recently, former AL Cy Young Award winner and Sasaki's teammate on the Marines, Dallas Keuchel, told the New York Post and confirmed that the Dodgers are the most likely landing spot for the Japanese superstar.

“I heard some, some rumblings about a done deal with the Dodgers –– you know, having a plan for him,” Keuchel said. “And if I was Vegas, I would definitely put them as the favorite, but I don’t know. We never really talked about that.”

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Dallas Keuchel thinks Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will sway Roki Sasaki to Los Angeles

Keuchel noted that he and Sasaki, "briefly spoke about the pinstripes and about the Mets, but really, there was no central team that [they] talked about" while confirming that "the Dodgers have the upper hand just because of Shohei, Yamamoto and even Darvish pitching there for that playoff run in ‘17."

Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu are huge bargaining chips for the Dodgers. They were both his teammates on Japan's championship team at the World Baseball Classic. Also, coming to a team that already has a major Japanese presence will make adjusting to life in North American significantly easier for the pitcher who, according to Keuchel is beginning to learn English.

The Dodgers are quickly becoming Japan's team. Adding Sasaki would only cement this status. Kauchel noticed the Dodgers' presence in Japan. "I saw some Yankees hats, but everywhere it was the ‘D’ for Dodgers on shirts and hats," he said.

While it remains to be seen where Sasaki will end up, it is known that the Dodgers are all in on the possible next Japanese MLB superstar. If they are able to pull off signing him, he will join his fellow countrymen Ohtani and Yamamoto on an absolutely stacked Dodgers starting rotation.