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After winning the 2024 World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers went on to dominate the MLB offseason with an unprecedented spending spree. Los Angeles boasts a truly star-studded lineup as the organization improved on an already extremely impressive roster.
LA scored one of the offseason's biggest victories earlier this year when the team signed Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki. And Dodgers players did their part to help seal the deal.
“Mookie [Betts], me, Tommy Edman, Will Smith and Shohei were the guys that were there,” Freddie Freeman said of the recruiting trip that won over Sasaki, per Foul Territory on X. “And Shohei was with him the whole time. Shohei brought his dog because Roki likes dogs too… We knew what we were doing,” Freeman admitted while laughing.
Decoy is revealed as Dodgers’ secret weapon in recruiting Roki Sasaki
As all fans suspected, Ohtani’s dog Decoy was the secret weapon. The ace in the hole for the Dodgers. Decoy’s popularity is uncanny as the pup already got a bobblehead night (that he shared with his owner) and even threw out the first pitch.
More recently, Decoy went viral during Ohtani’s NL MVP ceremony, bolting from the couch after Shohei was announced as the winner. Now, the good boy is helping LA recruit players.
Of course, the Dodgers didn’t rely entirely on Decoy winning Sasaki over. Freeman explained that he and his teammates just wanted to impress upon the young pitcher what a good fit he’d be in Los Angeles.’“It [was] just more of showing him how the culture is between us guys that are already on the team and showing him that he will be comfortable if he came to us,” Freeman said, via Foul Territory.
Whether it was the camaraderie, the dog, the opportunity to play for the most talented team in baseball, or some combination of the three, the Dodgers added Sasaki as a starter, sending shockwaves through the baseball world.
Roki dominated in his MLB debut during spring training. And, despite the expectations for his individual success, there’s very little pressure on Sasaki from a team perspective. That’s because, in addition to Roki, the Dodgers have a rotation featuring Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and the newly acquired Blake Snell. The team will also add Ohtani at some point this season and three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw is working his way back from injury as well.
