The San Diego Padres faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series, a rivalry matchup that was arguably more entertaining than the Fall Classic. The NLDS featured drama, fun, and back-and-forth baseball in the five games played, but the Dodgers ultimately escaped with a win.
Manager Mike Shildt used the word “stunned” to describe San Diego’s final 24 innings of the season. Less than a few weeks later, the NL West rivals were once again pitted against each other for the Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki.
On Friday, Sasaki announced he was signing with the Dodgers. Sasaki’s decision is another stunning loss for an organization that has had little success this winter. To make matters worse, the Padres did not make the final two. The Sasaki sweepstakes came down to the Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays.
In November, Padres pitcher Yu Darvish expressed his disappointment with several Japanese stars such as Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani joining the Dodgers instead of his club. Darvish hoped Sasaki would spearhead the change by teaming up with him in San Diego.
At a holiday party earlier this winter, Darvish commented on the Sasaki sweepstakes, a storyline that has dominated the headlines since the start of the offseason.
“I think it’s a good thing if he were to come to San Diego,” Darvish said through interpreter Shingo Horie. “Just for myself personally, if it does happen, yeah, it’s a great thing for me as well. But we’ll see how things shake out.
“I don’t think there’s much that I can do. He knows what he wants, he’ll make his decision, and I’m sure there’s going to be a couple of meetings coming up for him. And that will give him an opportunity to see what organizations are like. I’m sure he’s going to make his decision, and we’ll all be respectful of that.”
As Darvish said, all there’s left to do is respect Sasaki’s decision and move on. There are still several decisions that need to be made before spring training begins, but the loss of Sasaki is another punch to the morale of an organization faced with financial uncertainty and an ownership lawsuit.
