Massive Cubs' free agent miss turns out to be a major stroke of luck - for now

The Chicago Cubs made a hard push to land coveted Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki last offseason, falling just outside the trio of finalists in the sweepstakes. Eventually (and, frankly, to the surprise of basically nobody), the Los Angeles Dodgers emerged victorious.

It felt like a big blow to the Cubs, specifically, given their recent success with Yu Darvish, Seiya Suzuki, and, most recently, Shota Imanaga. The organization has consistently received high praise from Japanese players in regards to their level of accommodation for guys coming in from overseas, but in the end, it wasn't enough to sway Sasaki.

He joined a Los Angeles rotation that could have been one of the best in history. Instead, it's made history in a very different way, with IL stint after IL stint sinking the team's staff and making the NL West a much tighter race (at least through mid-June) than anyone anticipated.

Dodgers get ominous injury update on right-hander Roki Sasaki

Sasaki has been a major piece of that equation, making just eight starts and amassing just 34 1/3 innings on the year - and according to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, there's a chance he may not pitch again this year.

“I don’t know if it’s pain… it’s more of a question for Roki, to be quite honest with you,” Roberts told the Los Angeles Times. “As far as kind of the sensation, I don’t — it’s discomfort. I don’t think it’s pain. It’s tightness.”

Because he came to MLB prior to turning 25, Sasaki is under Los Angeles' control for six years and is playing on a rookie salary - a reason he made particular sense for a financially-conscious team like the Cubs. By no means would a sunk rookie season be the end of his promising career. After all, he doesn't turn 24 until November. But the Dodgers' hopes of repeating as World Series champions could take a serious hit.

As for Chicago, they have problems of their own with ace Justin Steele done for the year and another 40 percent of its projected starting rotation on the injured list in Shota Imanaga and Javier Assad. Imanaga is expected to return soon, which would be a major boost, and Jed Hoyer is almost guaranteed to pursue big names at the trade deadline, as well.

Hindsight is always 20/20 and affords us luxuries that, in real-time, simply don't exist. The Cubs banking on Sasaki being an impact arm right and him falling victim to injuries wouldn't have completely derailed a promising 2025 season - but it certainly wouldn't have done them any favors, either.