Right until the very end, the San Diego Padres thought they had a real shot at landing Roki Sasaki, doing everything possible — from giving him a star-studded tour of the city to ensuring they had as much international bonus pool money as possible — to give themselves the edge over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Less than a week after announcing he would sign with the Dodgers in one of this offseason’s major free agency coups, 23-year-old Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki was introduced by the team at a celebratory news conference — the latest star-player reception for a team that has been stockpiling them over the last several winters.