QUINIX Sport News: MLB free agency: Dodgers make Roki Sasaki signing official, Blue Jays sign Anthony Santander

The Toronto Blue Jays hadto do something.

After futile runs at multiple top free agents — Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and Roki Sasaki all spurned Canada’s team this winter — the Jays found themselves in a position of desperation. Their roster, though capable of competing in 2025, remained incomplete and undermanned, particularly on offense. And with two of the club’s franchise cornerstones, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, just a year from free agency, the future was growing increasingly hazy. The pressure, for this franchise without a postseason win since 2016, had reached a fever pitch.

But on Monday, the Jays gave themselves some breathing room and a much-needed injection of power, with the club reportedly agreeing to terms with slugging outfielder Anthony Santander on a five-year contract. It’s an inevitable, obvious pairing between a team sorely lacking in pop and a free agent with immense juice.

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After signing Tanner Scott, the reigning World Series champs are looking to add Kirby Yates to their bullpen.

Hope is a dangerous beast.

Or, in other words: Roki Sasaki is a Los Angeles Dodger, and few in the baseball industry are particularly surprised.

The 23-year-old Japanese hurler, one of the most promising talents in the nation’s storied baseball history, announced Friday on Instagram that he agreed to a deal with the defending World Series champs. For Dodgers fans, it’s cause for celebration. For the rest of the league, it’s a disappointing conclusion to a fascinating free agency and another reason to gripe and groan about the growing might of MLB’s new evil empire.

Frustration, from the fan bases and front offices that missed out, is justifiable and understandable. So, too, is the decision Sasaki made for himself.

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Roki Sasaki was expected by many to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. They were right.

The flame-throwing right-hander from Japan agreed to a deal with the Dodgers on Friday, according to a post on his Instagram account.

The Dodgers beat out basically all of MLB for Sasaki, who met with several teams to evaluate what they could bring to the table beyond money. The Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays were reported to be the finalists, with the Dodgers and Padres seen as the co-favorites for most of the process.

After receiving the signing bonus, Sasaki will have the same status as any other MLB rookie once he makes his debut, going through pre-arbitration and arbitration years before he hits free agency after six years of MLB service time.

Meanwhile, Sasaki’s NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, will receive a posting fee worth 20% of the signing bonus. In four seasons with the Marines, Sasaki posted a 2.02 ERA and 0.883 WHIP with 524 strikeouts in 414 2/3 innings.

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The 31-year-old Leclerc has pitched eight seasons in MLB, all with the Texas Rangers. In 2024, he made 64 appearances, striking out 89 batters and recording a 4.32 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 66 2/3 innings pitched.