Pitcher Roki Sasaki is the next star to make the jump from Japan to Major League Baseball. With Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto starring for the champion Los Angeles Dodgers, smart money is on Sasaki heading to Hollywood.

Given the Dodgers will likely go to a six-man rotation next season — something to further accommodate the schedules of Yamamoto and Ohtani (when he returns to the mound after a second major elbow ligament reconstruction) — the more arms, the better.

A.J. Preller’s pursuit of Roki Sasaki, the standout prize of this offseason, may have unofficially started in the middle of the summer. On June 6, Padres pitcher Yu Darvish was placed on the restricted list to handle a personal family matter.