9 Dodgers pitchers whose futures just changed with Roki Sasaki’s signing

On Friday, Roki Sasaki took a page out of his new teammate's book when he took to Instagram to announce his own signing with the Dodgers before the media could do it for him. After what seemed like a heated, down-to-the-wire battle, LA has emerged victorious for another starter and potentially another generational talent.

The Dodgers were always going to do whatever they could to get Sasaki, no matter the cost. They'll presumably be giving up the entirety of their bonus pool allotment to him, but they might also be sacrificing the futures of a lot of pitchers already in the organization, who now have little to no chance to break out in a rotation that was already overcrowded before Sasaki signed.

9 Dodgers pitchers whose futures just changed with Roki Sasaki’s signing

Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Bobby Miller

If the Dodgers still want to try for a six-man rotation throughout the season, they would be able to accommodate both May and Gonsolin on the roster until Shohei Ohtani returns in May, but after Ohtani and eventually Clayton Kershaw are back from injury, they're going to need to trim.

May was absent for all of 2024 and has never managed to pitch more than 56 innings in a single season due to multiple injuries, so he would be an easy first cut. Gonsolin also missed all of last season, but was on a better track to a return by the end of the year; he even completed a rehab assignment and there appeared to be some discussion about him returning for the postseason.

Miller's future in the majors is still entirely undecided. He was demoted to Triple-A twice last year and ended the season there and, along with almost two-month long IL stint, he only managed to pitch 56 innings for a horrendous 8.52 ERA.

May is in his last year before free agency, while Gonsolin has one more year of club control and Miller is still pre-arb. All three could be kept in reserve in the minors or in the bullpen in case more nasty injuries are to befall the rotation, but all three feel like prime trade candidates, even if their current value is low.

Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt, Justin Wrobleski, Landon Knack

Although it's still unclear exactly how long Sasaki will be a Dodger, it feels safe to assume that, as things stand, the first pitcher to leave the current rotation will be Tyler Glasnow after the 2027 season, and that's only if the Dodgers decline his club option for the next year. Blake Snell will remain in LA through at least 2029, Ohtani until 2034, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto until 2036.

This leaves the Dodgers' many promising pitching prospects without any path to the majors. Emmet Sheehan was supposed to take a spot in the back of the rotation in 2024, but an injury during spring training, followed by Tommy John, kept him out for the year. Stone, Ryan, and Hurt all went the same way (though Stone had shoulder surgery, not Tommy John) at various points in the season, despite getting some time to shine in the majors.

If any of these rookies were hoping to make unexpectedly early returns in 2025, or even on-time returns in 2026, their chances of doing so look exceedingly slim now. Knack showed some promise and avoided injury, but both he and Wrobleski would only really work as long relief options on this year's roster.

The Dodgers can't really do anything with their still-recovering pitchers right now, and Knack and Wrobleski would be easy to keep in the minors for some depth, but the long-term future for any of these players in LA is looking bleak.