Dodgers arrive in Japan, full of expectations

Yesterday at 08:10 AM

Several players talked about their anticipation heading into the Tokyo Series, plus another look at Dave Roberts' contract, and Dustin May pitching back at Camelback Ranch.

The Dodgers flew to Japan on Wednesday for the Tokyo Series, and their first exhibition game comes on Saturday morning (Pacific time) against the Yomiuri Giants.

Several players talked with Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register about their anticipation of what to expect in Tokyo, especially with Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki on the team. From Freddie Freeman:

"I think we have an idea, but I think it's going to blow the idea out of the water of what we think it's going to be like. … I mean, it was pretty crazy when we got off the plane in Korea and walked through (the airport). I just can't even imagine what that's going to be like when we land (in Tokyo)."

Dave Roberts' new contract carries an average annual value of $8.1 million, the highest in baseball, just ahead of $8 million earned by Cubs manager Craig Counsell. Jon Hoefling at USA Today noted that Torey Lovullo's $5 million from the D-backs makes him the third-highest-paid manager, and that Roberts' salary still only ranks 44th among American coaches and managers, "with several NFL, NBA, college football and college basketball coaches ahead of him."

Dan Szymborski at FanGraphs tried to plug holes on all 10 West division teams. This is how he described the 2025 Dodgers within the piece: "The Dodgers, while not having the highest median win projection of any team in ZiPS history (that's still the 2021 Dodgers), they have the highest floor, with no obvious weaknesses anywhere."

Dustin May did not make the trip to Tokyo with the Dodgers, and instead stayed back at Camelback Ranch to build up innings on the minor league side of camp to prepare for being in the rotation to start the domestic portion of the regular season. That included pitching in a game on Wednesday, which was chronicled by Triple-A Oklahoma City broadcaster Alex Freedman:

New Low-A Rancho Cucamonga pitching coach Brandon Bailey was pitching in the minors in the White Sox system as late as 2023. The 30-year-old Bailey was one of several players interviewed by Andy McCullough at The Athletic about making their major league debut during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, in front of no fans, and not making it back to the big leagues since.

Sammy Roth at the Los Angeles Times wrote about a letter sent by California Senate majority leader Lena Gonzalez to Dodgers owner Mark Walter, imploring the team to end sponsorship deals with oil and gas companies:

Removing the Phillips 66 ads from Dodger Stadium "would send the message that it's time to end our embrace of polluting fossil fuels and work together towards a cleaner, greener future," Gonzalez wrote.