In San Diego, news that one-man Powerball ticket Roki Sasaki has decided to join the Dodgers was more than a gut punch. It was a steel-toed boot to the shin, a Clydesdale stomp to the foot, a right hook to the jaw. This hurt in all kinds of ways, big and bigger than big.

Roki Sasaki is a Los Angeles Dodger, and few in the baseball industry are particularly surprised. The 23-year-old Japanese hurler, one of the most promising talents in the nation’s storied baseball history,

The Padres, with Japanese star Yu Darvish on the roster, felt they had a legitimate shot at Sasaki, and they had more money to play with, almost $6.26 million, than L.A. But the Dodgers, who eliminated the Padres on their way to the World Series last season, prevailed again.