Ridiculous Dodgers-Shohei Ohtani take shows how afraid media is of Roki Sasaki signing

When Yoshinobu Yamamoto was exploring free agency and being courted by all of the usual suspects around the league, the Mets reportedly based their pitch around a truly absurd argument. They told Yamamoto that if he chose New York over LA, he wouldn't have to live in Shohei Ohtani's shadow, as if Ohtani's brand new presence on the roster wasn't the thing that eventually got Yamamoto's deal with the Dodgers over the line just 16 days after Ohtani's.

This year, the hot Japanese free agent pitcher on the market is Roki Sasaki, who might be an even bigger deal than Yamamoto. As an amateur free agent who can only make league minimum with international bonus pool money as a signing bonus, he might be far more open to conversations with small-market teams than Yamamoto ever was.

If Sasaki really is interested in entertaining talks all around the league, he'll hear a lot of different arguments as teams try to tempt him over to their side. However, ex-GM Jim Bowden has already started making one for the current curious GMs out there.

Although the Dodgers are still widely thought of as the favorites to land Sasaki, Bowden insisted it wasn't a foregone conclusion. He made an argument that seems like a cousin to the Mets' pitch to Yamamoto; basically, that he wouldn't have to live in Ohtani and Yamamoto's shadows (subscription required).

Jim Bowden adds more anti-Dodgers noise to the Roki Sasaki conversation

To be fair to Bowden, his argument does have a little more to it than the Mets'. He suggests that because Sasaki won't even be eligible for arbitration until 2028, he and his representation will turn toward endorsements in order to maximize his earnings in MLB. If Sasaki were to go into the LA market, which is already heavily saturated with Japanese endorsements thanks to both Ohtani and Yamamoto, there would be fewer money-making opportunities.

On some level, that isn't a terrible argument, and it would be naive to think that money won't be a factor for Sasaki. However, it's hard to believe that a player who has been so eager to get to MLB and finally persuaded his team to post him after two Japanese players won the World Series in their first year as Dodgers isn't willing to take a hit monetarily in order to play with Ohtani and Yamamoto. If he'd waited two more years, he would've been able to come over for a potentially record-breaking amount of money.

Surely, Sasaki's representation will be looking out for his best monetary interest, but the Dodgers do also have some of the most international free agent bonus money left in this period, if Sasaki signs before Dec. 15. The overarching argument that Ohtani and Yamamoto's presence on the Dodgers will repel Sasaki, though? It was ridiculous when the Mets were making their case to Yamamoto, and it's still ridiculous now.