Otani dazzles in likely last start before heading to majors
The real Shohei Otani made his first appearance of the season on the last day of baseball at Sapporo Dome this year. It may have also been his final time on an NPB mound. Five years after he first set hearts aflutter on Japan's northernmost ...
MLB takes aim at future stars with latest posting proposals
Major League Baseball's latest effort to reduce the prices it pays for Japanese players will not affect this year's expected posting of slugging ace pitcher Shohei Otani, a source within Nippon Professional Baseball said Saturday. Yet, Japanese baseball executives believe there is little choice but ...
Batting, not money, could be key factor in race to land Fighters star Otani
Should Shohei Otani move to the majors via the posting system, as informed sources said Tuesday he expects to do, it will be a rare case where money will not be a primary factor in negotiations. Now 23, a fifth-year pro, and the Pacific League's ...
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters slugging ace pitcher Shohei Otani is likely to go to the major leagues through the posting system after the end of this season, an informed source said Wednesday. The 23-year-old remains unchanged from last offseason in terms of his desire to ...
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday he would like revisions made to the posting system agreement for Japanese players that the league has with Nippon Professional Baseball by this offseason. Under the current posting system which has been in place since 2013, any ...
Kuriyama says big comeback by Fighters a catalyst for future
When the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters were trailing the two-time Japan Series champion Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks by 11½ games in the Pacific League in late June, almost no one expected them to end up as league champions, let alone Japan Series champions, by the ...
Right-hander Masahiro Tanaka said Thursday he intends to make an impact in the big leagues "I'm not going to be satisfied just by playing in a league over there," the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles pitcher said at a pro sports awards event in Tokyo. "I ...
Tanaka informs Eagles he wants to pitch in majors in 2014
The man at the center of the posting system drama finally broke his silence, and it was music to the ears of MLB fans and executives. Masahiro Tanaka, who went 24-0 on the mound for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles this season, wants to try ...
Nippon Professional Baseball formally agreed on the terms of a new posting system with Major League Baseball on Monday. NPB's executive committee met and signed off on an agreement that both sides had agreed to in principle. The new rules will be in force after ...
New posting system puts Rakuten in unfavorable position
While the relevant parties have given their blessings to a new posting agreement between Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball, there is still no resolution to Masahiro Tanaka's situation. The Eagles were widely expected to post Tanaka this offseason, but the newly agreed upon ...
Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball have reached a basic agreement on a new posting system, sources said Thursday. It is thought that an agreement has been reached after MLB requested a posting fee cap of $20 million. The move will be formalized once ...
Japanese players association accepts new posting system agreement
The Japanese baseball players association has accepted revisions to the current posting system that allows Japanese players ineligible for free agency to move to the majors, limited to a period of two years, Toru Matsubara, executive director of the association, said Thursday. The formal agreement ...
