The most overrated story of this year in Japanese baseball might have been that tug of war back in the spring between the Orix Buffaloes and Fukuoka Softbank Hawks over the rights to American pitcher Jeremy Powell.
You'll recall it was reported Powell had signed contracts with both Pacific League teams and, after being front page news in Japanese sports papers for several days, the story took a turn when the Japanese baseball commissioner's office tossed out the Pa League's ruling which awarded Powell's services to Softbank but threatened to suspend him for half the season unless the teams could reach a deal on compensation.
NPB negated both contracts and told the clubs to start over the negotiations with Powell, so he signed with the Hawks and did not serve any suspension time.