Cody Snavely
Well, that was fast. The Los Angeles Dodgers fly to Tokyo, Japan, today to prepare for their two-game set against the Chicago Cubs to kick off the 2025 Major League Baseball regular season.
However, the Dodgers’ Cactus League action is not over for them yet. They’ll play the second annual Spring Breakout game tomorrow, with their top prospects facing off against the Cubs’ top prospects in Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona.
Before the Dodgers play their two-game set with the Cubs on March 18th and 19th next week, they’ll play two exhibition games this Saturday, March 15th, with a split squad. Game One will be at 3 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time against the Yomiuri Giants, and Game Two will be played at 8 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time against the Hanshin Tigers.
The Dodgers have yet to finalize their 31-man Tokyo Series roster, but the team announced more roster cuts yesterday afternoon.
Overall, the team announced seven players that were optioned, including right-handed pitcher Bobby Miller and utilityman Hyeseong Kim, and reassigned right-handed pitcher Giovanny Gallegos, catcher Dalton Rushing, infielders David Bote and Michael Chavis, and outfielder Eddie Rosario to minor league camp.
The most significant news of these moves is that the team decided that Hyeseong Kim would not travel to Tokyo, Japan, but would stay in Arizona and start the season in Triple-A OKC.
Kim, 26, signed a 3-year, $12.5 million deal with options to extend it to a 5-year, $22 million contract this winter. However, after struggling in Cactus League play, slashing .207/.303/.310 with a .613 OPS, the Dodgers opted to have Kim continue to work on his swing in the States.
It is not surprising that the Dodgers left Kim off their roster. The move was hinted at weeks ago when manager Dave Roberts stated that it was a real possibility. While Kim was a natural elite defensive second baseman, the team tried plugging him in at multiple positions, including shortstop and center field.
With Kim now off the roster, it seems the battle for the 26th spot on the Dodges roster when the team returns to Los Angeles for domestic Opening Day is between Andy Pages (.214 AVG/.634 OPS) and James Outman (.207 AVG/.816 OPS).
It is unknown when Kim will be called up to the Major League club, but the Korean infielder’s minor league options in his contract give the Dodgers some much-needed roster flexibility and allow Kim to get properly acclimated to Major League pitching after spending his previous professional seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO).
After yesterday’s 10-4 win over the Cleveland Guardians, manager Dave Roberts also confirmed what was already expected: that 23-year-old rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki would start Game Two of the Japan Series.
Sasaki made his mark known this spring in limited action, pitching seven scoreless innings, topping the high 90s with velocity, and showing off his devastating splitter. Roberts also hinted that lefty Blake Snell would likely pitch domestic Opening Day when the team returns to the States as things line up that way.
Like his Samurai Japan Yoshinobu Yamamoto last season, Sasaki will make his Major League debut internationally, but he hopes to have more success than the latter.
Some other final notes are that the Dodgers officially announced the 4-year, $32.4 million extension of current manager Dave Roberts through the 2029 season. The deal had been at the finish line the last few days, with both sides wanting it finalized before the team left Arizona.
In the end, Roberts gets to stay in Los Angeles and also breaks the average annual value (AAV) for managers at $8.1 million, beating out Cubs manager Craig Counsell‘s $8 million, which he signed during the 2024 offseason.
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