ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Admitting participation by Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki in the World Baseball Classic is “very delicate” following a World Series that stretched into November, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts isn't sure whether any limits will be placed on his team's Japanese stars.
Ohtani had elbow surgery in September 2023 and returned to the mound in June. The two-way sensation helped the Dodgers become the first repeat World Series champion in a quarter century, starting the Game 7 win over Toronto.
“I would like to think that it’s going to be a dialogue as far as restrictions and limitations, in the sense of just trying to give them the opportunity,” Roberts said Monday at baseball's winter meetings. “They’ve come off some stuff, some long seasons, and certainly with Yamamoto and looking out for 2026. But right now there’s no more clarity than we had before.”
Ohtani won his fourth unanimous Most Valuable Player award, hitting .282 with 55 homers, 102 RBIs and 20 stolen bases while going 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA over 14 shortened starts that included 62 strikeouts in 47 innings. He had eight homers and 14 RBIs in 17 postseason games along with a 2-1 record and 4.43 ERA in four postseason starts.
Roberts said he wasn't sure whether Ohtani will pitch for defending champion Japan in the WBC, which starts March 5 and ends March 17 — nine days before the Dodgers' opener against Arizona.
“I’m hoping he doesn’t but I don’t know,” Roberts said. “Shohei’s — he’s very in tune with his body. But I would say probably the thought is he’s probably just going to hit.”
Ohtani was MVP of the 2023 WBC, when Japan beat the United States 3-2 in the final as Ohtani struck out then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout for the final out. That tournament generally limited pitchers to 65 pitches in the first round, 80 in the quarterfinals and 95 in the championship, and also included mandatory off days after certain pitch counts.
Sasaki started the semifinal win over Mexico and Yamamoto followed in relief as Ohtani doubled to spark a ninth-inning rally.
“I don’t want to be dismissive of what it means to them representing their country,” Roberts said. “I know the organization doesn’t but I do think that the conversations need to be had, will be had, as far as what each individual is taking on and whatever role that they might be taking on and what potential costs there might be. ... But you can’t debate the emotion, what a player might feel of this potential opportunity.”
Limited to 90 innings by a triceps injury in his first season with the Dodgers after signing a $325 million, 12-year contract in December 2023, Yamamoto pitched 211 innings this year in the regular season and postseason combined.
Sasaki, in his rookie season, didn't pitch for the Dodgers between May 9 and Sept. 24 because of a right shoulder impingement and became their closer in the postseason.
Los Angeles plans to have Ohtani as a regular member of the starting rotation next season.
“But it’s not going to be a regular five-man rotation,” Roberts said. “I don’t want to go down the six-man rotation road, but I do feel that giving him six, seven, eight days off to kind of allow him to continue to stay rested and build up, I think that’s in our process. But again we have a long way to go but we’ve got some viable candidates.”
After leading the Dodgers to their third title in six seasons, Roberts has tried to detach and relax. He told Amazon Prime's “Good Sports” last week that he favors a salary cap, which some in management are advocating be proposed during collective bargaining next year. Baseball is the only U.S. professional major league without a cap.
“You know what? I’m all right with that,” Roberts said. “I think the NBA's done a nice job of kind of revenue sharing with the players and the owners, but if you’re going to kind of suppress spending at the top, I think that you got to raise the floor to make those bottom feeders spend money, too.”
“I’m entitled to an opinion, as we all are,” Roberts said Monday. “My opinion shouldn’t move the needle.”
Los Angeles projects to a major league-record $509.5 million in payroll and luxury tax this year. The New York Mets, who didn't make the playoffs, project second at $428.8 million.
“We have an organization that whatever rules or regulations, constructs are put in front of us, we’re going to dominate,” Roberts said. “And so just give us the rules, let us know the landscape and then I’ll bet on our organization.”
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Dave Roberts, manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, answers questions during a news conference at the MLB winter meetings, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Dave Roberts, manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, answers questions during a news conference at the MLB winter meetings, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
LONDON (AP) — Sophie Kinsella, the author of “Confessions of a Shopaholic” and a series of millions-selling rom-com sequels, died Monday, her family said. She was 55 and had been diagnosed with brain cancer.
The family said in a statement on Kinsella's Instagram account: “We are heartbroken to announce the passing this morning of our beloved Sophie (aka Maddy, aka Mummy). She died peacefully, with her final days filled with her true loves: family and music and warmth and Christmas and joy.
“We can’t imagine what life will be like without her radiance and love of life.”
Kinsella, who also published under her real name, Madeleine Wickham, announced in April 2024 that she had been diagnosed in late 2022 with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
“I did not share this before because I wanted to make sure that my children were able to hear and process the news in privacy and adapt to our ’new normal,'" she said at the time.
Starting in 2000 with “The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic,” titled “Confessions of a Shopaholic” in the United States, Kinsella published 10 “Shopaholic” novels, along with other fiction. Her books have sold more than 45 million copies worldwide and have been translated into dozens of languages.
The first two “Shopaholic” books were adapted into the 2009 film “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” starring Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy.
Kinsella did not grow up intending to be a writer. One of three girls born to teachers in London, she played piano and violin as a child and also composed music.
She told author-publisher Zibby Owens on her podcast, “Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books,” that the idea of writing never crossed her mind. “It wasn’t my childhood ambition. I wasn’t the child walking around saying, ‘I’m going to write a novel one day.’”
Kinsella enrolled at Oxford University to study music but switched to the politics, philosophy and economics program after one year.
While at college, she met local musician Henry Wickham and fell in love. The couple had four sons and a daughter.
After graduating, Kinsella began working as a financial journalist and spent her commute reading. The idea to write fiction herself began to take shape on the train.
She published her debut novel, ”The Tennis Party,” in 1995 when she was 24, as Madeleine Wickham. Soon after, she left her journalism job to focus on writing. Six other books, including “The Gatecrasher” and “Sleeping Arrangements,” followed.
An otherwise normal shopping excursion sparked the idea for writing her first “Shopaholic” novel
“I remember looking around me and thinking... “We all shop... We talk about it. We do it. We rejoice in it. We make bad decisions. Why hasn’t anybody written about this?” Kinsella said in 2019 on “The Sunday Salon with Alice-Azania Jarvis” podcast.
Kinsella created a story about Becy Bloomwood, a 20-something financial journalist in debt from a shopping habit she can’t (or won’t) kick. The novel contained hilarious back-and-forth correspondence with bill collectors and banks, where she would make excuses for late payments.
Kinsella told The Associated Press in an interview that the letters were "one of the most fun bits of writing.”
There was also a love story with a handsome businessman whom Becky met while on assignment. She went on to marry and have a mini-shopaholic daughter in future books.
“Confessions of a Shopaholic” had a different tone and style than her earlier books, so she decided to submit it to her publishers under the pen name Sophie Kinsella. Her middle name was Sophie and Kinsella was her mother’s maiden name.
The publishers said yes, and “Shopaholic” was published in 2000 under her pseudonym. The novel, blending humor with a cautionary tale about getting in over your head with debt, was an immediate success.
“Becky was kind of like a pioneer in realizing that all this easy credit can lead to problems,” Kinsella told The AP.
Kinsella also wrote “The Undomestic Goddess”, “Remember Me?” and “Twenties Girl.” A young adult novel, “Finding Audrey,” was released in 2015, followed by the children’s book series “My Mummy Fairy and Me.”
Her novel “Can You Keep a Secret?” was adapted into a film starring Alexandra Daddario and Tyler Hoechlin in 2019. Her last novel was “The Burnout,” released in 2023.
In November 2022, after experiencing symptoms like memory loss, headaches and balance troubles, Kinsella was diagnosed with glioblastoma, for which there is no cure. She kept the news private until April 2024. In an interview with TV personality Robin Roberts aired a few months later, Kinsella said she was focused on living in the moment.
“I’ve already lasted more than the average. That’s how we get through. We hope,” she said.
After her diagnosis, she wrote a novella, “What Does It Feel Like,” about a woman with five children who has brain cancer.
“I thought people might be curious to know what it’s like to go through this,” Kinsella told Roberts. “I hope it’s full of optimism and love most of all.”
Rancilio reported from Detroit.
FILE - Author Sophie Kinsella shops in the children's section at Bergdorf Goodman in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
FILE -Author Sophie Kinsella poses on Wimbledon Village high street, London, Sept. 9, 2004. Kinsella is waiting for her next book in her "Shopaholic" series to be published in America. (AP Photo/Adam Butle, File)
