Complete breakdown and timeline for Dodgers after Roki Sasaki was posted at Winter Meetings

Baseball Winter Meetings already kicked off with an incredible bang on Sunday night, when Juan Soto signed with the Mets for $765 million, now the richest contract in sports history. The Dodgers didn't come down to the wire with the Mets and Yankees on that one, but they did make a few moves of their own, signing Michael Conforto to a one-year, $17 million deal and re-signing Blake Treinen for two years and $22 million.

Soto's off the board, but his departure from the market was quickly followed by an arrival. Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki was officially posted to MLB on Monday morning, opening a 45-day window for him to sign with a major league team.

Compared to what Sasaki's market might turn into, Soto's was uncomplicated. Soto's free agency was always going to be about money, but Sasaki's cannot be. When he signs, the most he'll get is about $8.3 million (league minimum plus the highest amount of money in the international bonus pool, allotted to eight teams in 2025).

The Dodgers are still widely thought of as the favorites to land Sasaki, even though they have just $5.15 million in bonus pool money, but the next 45 days might be a total crapshoot.

Where do the Dodgers stand after Roki Sasaki was officially posted to MLB?

Sasaki's window is 5 PM EST on Dec. 10 to the same time on Jan. 23, but there's a caveat: Sasaki cannot sign when the international signing period is closed from Dec. 10 to Jan. 15. That doesn't mean he can't talk to teams or even reach a handshake agreement, but no parties involved can put pen to paper during that month.

Last month, rumors that Sasaki already had a handshake deal with the Dodgers started to circulate, but his agent Joel Wolfe quickly shot those down. The Padres, Red Sox, Mets, and Yankees have all also been named as competitors here. Still, Buster Olney of ESPN reported, "There is widespread industry belief – correct or not – that Sasaki has probably already picked a team, and it’s most likely the Dodgers."

The Dodgers have the least amount of allotted bonus pool money of any team other than the Giants, but again, money is mostly a negligible factor here and Sasaki can still earn off of sponsorships. It'll come down to where he wants to play, and Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto's presences in LA (along with, of course, their World Series victory) might be the driving force that puts him in Dodger blue.