Japanese Pitcher Roki Sasaki Picks Dodgers

New York, Jan. 17 (Jiji Press)--Japanese baseball pitcher Roki Sasaki said Friday that he has decided to sign a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"It was a very difficult decision. I will do my best so that I can say 'it was the right decision' when I look back at my baseball career (in the future)," the 23-year-old right-hander said in a social media post.

Sasaki will move to U.S. professional baseball from the Chiba Lotte Marines, a Japanese professional baseball team, by using the posting system.

He is set to become a Dodgers teammate with Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The three played together in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where the Japanese national team won the title.

According to U.S. media reports, the Dodgers will pay 6.5 million dollars for the contact with Sasaki, and 25 pct of the amount is expected to go to the Marines.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]