Sasaki named them one of his three finalists, joined by the Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays. If nothing else, such recognition plants a larger Padres flag in Japan, where Sasaki commands national attention. Coming Japanese stars won’t say “who?” when Padres team-builder A.J. Preller and scouts come calling.

With ownership turmoil and no offseason additions, the Padres must figure out how to contend without the Japanese phenom they coveted.

The Los Angeles Dodgers landed Roki Sasaki, and there are inevitably some who want to spoil the story. Less than an hour after Sasaki announced he was joining t