The story behind Rojas giving up No. 11 for Sasaki

This story was excerpted from Sonja Chen's Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The numbers that big leaguers wear on their backs can mean a lot to them -- and sometimes, the numbers end up being worth a lot, too.

Just ask Shohei Ohtani, who gifted Joe Kelly and his family a Porsche in exchange for his No. 17 when he joined the Dodgers ahead of the 2024 season.

That recent memory led many to wonder what Roki Sasaki might offer veteran Miguel Rojas, as the highly touted right-hander from Japan wore No. 11 -- which belonged to Rojas in his previous two seasons with L.A. -- on his back when he was introduced as a Dodger.

"I'm really grateful that a veteran like Miguel Rojas has let me wear No. 11," Sasaki said at his introductory press conference through team interpreter Will Ireton. "I haven't decided yet on what I'm going to give, but I'm going to start thinking about that."

Rojas, though, had a very simple request for his new teammate.

"I don't need anything, to be honest with you. I just want to win," Rojas said at DodgerFest on Saturday. "I just want Roki Sasaki on my team, and that's what I'm looking for."

Reminded by a member of the media that giving gifts is an important part of Japanese culture, Rojas reassured that he would accept anything he was offered -- but that the most important thing Sasaki could do for him is be a good teammate and help the Dodgers become even better in 2025.

Changing numbers is a common part of the game, but Rojas acknowledged that it's typically young players who have to give up their numbers for an established veteran.

Sasaki, while accomplished across his four seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, is a rookie once more. The 23-year-old carries over no shortage of hype with his tantalizing arsenal and is ranked as MLB Pipeline's No. 1 overall prospect in baseball, but even so, he's unproven as a Major Leaguer.

Rojas, on the other hand, is heading into his 12th big league season. He's stuck around at the highest level of professional baseball for a long time and continues to play an important role for the Dodgers. Many would consider him to have the right to his preferred number, but that's not the priority for Rojas.

"When the guy's coming from a different culture, from a different country," he said, "I want him to feel comfortable in the clubhouse."

Rojas switched to No. 72 after giving his number to Sasaki, a callback to his earliest days in the big leagues. It's the number he wore on June 6, 2014, when he made his Major League debut with the Dodgers.

The number didn't really mean anything to Rojas at the time, he said -- it was assigned to him at Spring Training, and he just kept it. But now, he will always associate it with his first taste of big league action and the organization that helped him get to that point.

"It felt right to come back to No. 72," Rojas said. "Hopefully it brings a little bit of youngness with me, because I'm not getting any younger."