The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki on Friday afternoon and the Philadelphia Phillies helped them to do so. Announced in the wake of the Sasaki signing, the Phillies traded international bonus pool space to the Dodgers in exchange for prospect Dylan Campbell. Following the signing of Sasaki, the Dodgers have reinforced what was already one of the strongest, deepest, and certainly the most expensive starting rotation in Major League Baseball history. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel was the first to break the news of the trade.
Dylan Campbell joins the Phillies
Dylan Campbell, 22, is a low-grade outfield prospect drafted by the Dodgers in the fourth round of the 2023 Major League Baseball draft out of the University of Texas. Campbell played the entirety of the 2024 season with the Dodgers’ High-A team, the Great Lake Loons, where he hit a .251 average and .703 OPS with 10 home runs and 53 RBI over 115 games played. He was named a Mid-America League Player of the Week for the week of August 11, 2024.
Not appearing on the Dodger’s Top 30 Prospect list, Campbell will travel to the East Coast hoping to work his way through the Phillies’s system.
Phillies Make Signing of Their Own
Sasaki was not the only Japanese pitcher to go off the board on Friday. The Phillies signed 31-year old Koyo Aoyagi to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training. Bringing the Phillies total camp list to 64, Aoyagi has pitched for the Hanshin Tigers for nine years, pitching for a 3.00 ERA over 1165.2 career innings. Aoyagi, whose arm slot is nearly a side-arm throw, brings the Phillies’ total camp list up to 64.
Potential Room for Bargain Moves
While the Dodgers are throwing any type of financial barriers to the wind, they are still limited by a 26-man roster just like every Major League team. Currently, with nine potential starting pitchers on their roster, the Dodgers may be looking to move some of their back-end starters over the next several weeks. Though the Phillies are currently in a good spot themselves when it comes to starting pitching depth, a bottom-dollar move for a player like Gavin Stone or Dustin May could help reinforce the Phillies’ staff. Additionally, Jack Flaherty and Clayton Kershaw are still among free agents hoping to sign somewhere now that their former employer is overloaded with pitchers.
Dave Dombrowski. Photo Credit: Alec Kostival
