Roki Sasaki, the Japanese pitching sensation, has signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, surprising fans who expected him to join the San Diego Padres due to his admiration for Yu Darvish. Sasaki’s decision to join the Dodgers reunites him with compatriots Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto,

The Padres, with Japanese star Yu Darvish on the roster, felt they had a legitimate shot at Sasaki, and they had more money to play with, almost $6.26 million, than L.A. But the Dodgers, who eliminated the Padres on their way to the World Series last season, prevailed again.