It's official: Roki Sasaki is a Los Angeles Dodger.

The 23-year-old Japanese ace finalized his deal with Los Angeles, then was introduced in a press conference at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. Sporting a sharp Dodger blue tie and socks that featured the face of his black toy poodle, Sasaki buttoned his No. 11 Dodgers uniform for the first time. He then took the podium.

"I spent the past month both embracing and reflecting on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to choose a place purely based on where I can grow as a player the most," Sasaki said, through team interpreter Will Ireton. "Every organization helped me in its own way, and it was an incredibly difficult decision to choose just one."

Sasaki then went into his reasoning for choosing L.A. He spoke of an opportunity to grow and develop as a pitcher. He spoke of a team and a community that he would embrace and feel comfortable with. And he spoke of front-office stability.

"I had the opportunity to speak to a lot of teams, and they had a lot of appealing features," said Sasaki. "But overall when I looked at the general consensus, I thought that the Dodgers were at the top."

Sasaki has some of the most electric stuff in the world, headlined by his 100-plus mph fastball and a wipeout splitter, which could be one of MLB's nastiest pitches right away. The 6-foot-3 flamethrower has been among the best pitchers in Japan since he debuted in NPB at age 19 in 2021, earning him the nickname "The Monster of the Reiwa Era."

His decision concluded a weeks-long process after he¡¯d been posted last month by the Chiba Lotte Marines -- with whom he¡¯d recorded a 2.10 ERA across four seasons with 505 strikeouts in 394 2/3 innings.

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Sasaki held meetings with a number of clubs, before narrowing his suitors to three finalists -- the Padres, Blue Jays and Dodgers. He met with all three teams in all three cities before announcing his decision in an Instagram post on Friday afternoon.

"I think the No. 1 thing that stood out was the stability of the front office," Sasaki said.

During his meeting with the Dodgers, Sasaki spoke with fellow Japanese superstars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto -- his new teammates in Los Angeles and past teammates on the 2023 World Baseball Classic champions.

Sasaki indicated that the duo was thrilled to learn he'd be joining L.A. after he informed them via text last week. But he noted -- as agent Joel Wolfe had indicated several weeks ago -- that their presence wasn't a deciding factor.

"It wasn't a priority for me, if there was or was not a Japanese player on a team, as I was looking at all the teams," Sasaki said. "Being able to play with Ohtani and Yamamoto, both exceptional players, [I am] really looking forward to playing with them. And not just them, but the rest of the team which is incredibly talented as well."

No kidding. The Dodgers, of course, are reigning World Series champions in the midst of a frenzied offseason of spending. Among other moves, they¡¯ve already added Blake Snell and will bring back Teoscar Hern¨¢ndez and Blake Treinen. Lefty relief ace Tanner Scott also recently agreed to a deal, a source told MLB.com¡¯s Mark Feinsand, though it has not yet been announced by the club.

Among those moves, the Sasaki courtship was a unique one. Because he was posted prior to his 25th birthday, Sasaki will make only a rookie salary plus a capped international signing bonus, which ended up being $6.5 million.

His decision was never about dollars and cents, because he¡¯d be making more or less the same wherever he went. Instead, he did his best to narrow the field based on his own personal development. As The Athletic first reported, Sasaki assigned each potential suitor the task of figuring out why his velocity had dipped during his 2024 season, then reporting their findings to him at their meeting.

On Wednesday, Sasaki was asked about that process.

¡°Because there was going to be limited time for me to be able to understand the differences among many teams, I just felt like this homework assignment was a really good opportunity for me to be able to find out how the teams think.¡±

Clearly, the Dodgers aced that assignment -- and the evidence was on display Wednesday as Andrew Friedman, the team¡¯s president of baseball operations, introduced Sasaki.

Friedman noted that this signing was the culmination of a process dating back six years, when the Dodgers first scouted Sasaki in high school.

¡°Even then, his explosive fastball, pinpoint command and poise beyond his years stood out,¡± Friedman said. ¡°Roki has gone on to set records. He has made an indelible mark on the international stage. And we couldn¡¯t be more excited about this partnership with him.¡±