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| (from left) Sasaki-Yamamoto-Otani. Photo = LA Dodgers official SNS |
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What's the price. Three players representing Japan gathered in a team. The Los Angeles Dodgers released 'Three-Shots of Dreams'.
On the 19th (Korea time), the Dodgers released a photo of Rocky Sasaki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Shohei Ohtani on the club's official SNS account. The Dodgers recently finished taking an official profile picture of the team for the 2025 season, and it seems that they also took a photo of the three people wearing all the uniforms and smiling together for the first time on this day.
In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that they are the three players who hold the fate of the Dodgers this season. Three Japanese players will play for a team this season. It started with Ohtani. Ohtani, the only pitching and hitting player in the Major League, who was the FA's biggest fish last year, was awarded a 10-year, $700 million (about 1.105 trillion won) contract in professional sports history.
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| 오타니. AP Yonhap News |
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He then hired Yamamoto, the best pitcher in Japanese professional baseball. Although he dominated the Japanese stage, he offered a super-high-end contract of $325 million (about 469.2 billion won) for 12 years, the longest period in major league pitcher history, to a pitcher who is still a rookie in the Major League.
Yamamoto, who was disappointed in his performance due to adaptation problems at the beginning of the opening, got on track as he accumulated. Ohtani won the unanimous National League MVP while playing only as a designated hitter while rehabilitating his elbow, and the Dodgers, which saved the effect of recruiting Ohtani-Yamamoto, even won the World Series.
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| Yamamoto.AP Yonhap News |
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It didn't stop there. The Dodgers have also been the most active in recruiting the 「Monster Pitcher」 Sasaki, who was playing in Japan. Sasaki, a pitcher who throws fastballs up to 165 kilometers, attempted to advance to the Major League faster than expected. He applied for posting with the consent of his original team, Chiba Lotte Marines, and more than 20 major league teams entered the recruitment process.
The winner was the Dodgers. Sasaki, who is under the age of 25, was relatively inexpensive because he could only sign minor contracts. The Dodgers held Sasaki in their arms with a down payment of $6.5 million (about 9.3 billion won) and an annual salary of $760,000 (about 1.1 billion won). However, if Sasaki actually throws a threatening pitch in the Major League, his ransom could jump astronomically in the future. There are observations that they may receive more than Yamamoto's ransom.
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| APYonhap News |
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The three men's collaboration creates another 'money line' for the Dodgers. It is already a large Japanese company with the recruitment of Ohtani and Yamamoto last yearThe derivative economic effect was so great that it filled the main billboards of Just Stadium. This year, Japanese clubs are expected to line up for more ads, with Sasaki joining the 'Star Corps'. Considering not only the purchase of various MD products such as uniforms of Japanese baseball fans, but also the sale of tickets during the season, it is expected that the Dodgers will be able to earn as much profit as the amount invested.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
