The Padres’ underwhelming offseason reached another level of disappointment on Friday.

Japanese sensation Roki Sasaki chose to sign with the Dodgers, he announced.

That leaves the Padres to face an uncertain path in the months leading up to the 2025 season and to face the reality of their closest and most irksome rival going forward with yet another star player.

News began to filter out early Friday morning that the Padres had apparently pivoted. They were spending their international bonus pool money on young shortstop Jhoan De la Cruz and left-handed pitcher Carlos Alvarez, two teenagers from the Dominican Republic the team had been tied to before the international signing period began.

While it took time to confirm that those meant the Padres were out on Sasaki, their spending money on other highly touted prospects was a strong sign they would not need their full bonus pool allotment for the prize of the international class.

The team had explored trades to up their bonus pool allotment, but that would not be needed.

The Blue Jays completed a trade Friday morning that added $2 million to their allotment, which was originally $6.26 million, same as the Padres.

Terms of the Dodgers’ deal, which Sasaki announced on Instagram, were not immediately known.

In choosing the Dodgers, the defending World Series champions, Sasaki chose to join countrymen Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Los Angeles rather than Yu Darvish and Yuki Matsui in San Diego.

The Padres still have a good starting rotation. They intend to begin the season with most of their core players from last year, and they won more games than all but four other teams in 2024.

But Sasaki personified hope. He was as much aspiration and validation as he was a potential ace.

He is 23 years old and has never been tested as he will be facing the best hitters in the world every start. There was no guarantee Sasaki was going to greatly impact their ‘25 season for the better.

Signing him, though, certainly would have heated up a long, cold winter.

The Padres have signed no major league free agents this winter and have some significant holes to fill while they nurse the sting of this rejection.

Acquiring a potentially dominant starting pitcher at such a steep reduction would have been helpful, for sure.

But resolution of the Sasaki sweepstakes could at least provide a catalyst to reverse the inertia of the Padres’ offseason.

Team officials have said payroll will be higher than the approximately $169 million it was in 2024 but that it will be lower than the current commitments for 2025, which stand at nearly $210 million.

According to people in the organization and others who have dealt with the Padres, the team has at least entertained the idea of trading any number of stars to get payroll down and acquire more affordable talent.

The Padres need at least one starting pitcher, a left fielder and probably a designated hitter along with bench help.

Originally Published: January 17, 2025 at 3:15 PM PST