New twist in Roki Sasaki chase gives Dodgers' stars chance to deflate Padres

While detractors have tried to argue every possible angle to the contrary, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been thought of as the favorites to sign Roki Sasaki from the jump. Not only are there obvious reasons for Sasaki to favor LA — Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and the newest Commissioner's Trophy among them — Dodgers scouts in Asia have also had their eyes on him since he was in high school.

When the Dodgers survived a quick culling by Sasaki on Jan. 13, which put the Giants, Yankees, Mets, Cubs, and Rangers out of consideration to sign him, his union with LA felt inevitable. However, Sasaki met with both the Blue Jays and Padres a second time over the weekend, while a Dodgers meeting had yet to be revealed.

The Padres gave him star treatment; he was welcomed into a player's home, attended to by Yu Darvish and Manny Machado, and even got some time to throw on the field at Petco Park in full Padres gear.

But it always felt unlikely that Sasaki was going to stop there after just meeting with two of the three finalists. On Jan. 14, Fabian Ardaya and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic confirmed that the Dodgers would be meeting with Sasaki that same day (subscription required).

Dodgers schedule meeting with Roki Sasaki with all the stars in attendance

Sasaki asked that players not be in attendance during the first-round meetings, but that's clearly changed during this final stage of deliberation. Ardaya and Rosenthal wrote that "The Dodgers’ pitch, sources said, is expected to feature several of their stars."

This is completely unsurprising, and could ultimately be the Dodgers' greatest weapon. Even though agent Joel Wolfe has said that having Japanese players already on a roster might not be a huge consideration in a new home for Sasaki, he might just like the fact that the Japanese players on the Dodgers' roster are 1) the face of baseball who just won NL MVP and 2) one of the most highly decorated NPB pitchers of all time. LA has them, along with two other former MVPs.

The Dodgers going last might also give them a leg up. If fans have seen reports of the Padres' star treatment for Sasaki, then so have the Dodgers, and now they have the chance to do one better.

Sasaki is expected to sign somewhere around Jan. 20, and the Dodgers might have the final word before he makes his decision.