Shohei Otani, 18, wants MLB career

[camisadelgolf]

He's planning skipping Japan's amateur draft to pursue a career in MLB.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/85...ler-opting-mlb

Japanese high school pitcher Shohei Otani says he will pursue a career in Major League Baseball instead of turning professional in Japan.

Shohei Otani, a right-hander whose fastball has surpassed 99 mph, has been scouted by several MLB teams including the Dodgers and Red Sox.
Otani, a 6-foot-4 right-hander who has thrown a fastball between 99 and 100 mph, has been scouted by several major league teams including the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox.

[jojo]

Te reaction to this news might be worse than the reaction to Godzilla's attack on Tokyo...

[reds1869]

I can't say I blame the kid. Once he makes it official the floodgates will open.

[Wonderful Monds]

So what happens now? Obviously he skips the posting process. Everyone should be on a relatively level playing field financially given those international free agent limits that came along recently right?

[Wonderful Monds]

And with that last statement in mind, I just want to throw this out - the Reds did not sign ANY international free agents, to my knowledge.

[Chip R]

I could see MLB telling their teams to pass on this kid so as to not upset their relations with the Japanese league.

[UKFlounder]

Would that be collusion? Would it matter in this situation?

Originally Posted by Chip R

I could see MLB telling their teams to pass on this kid so as to not upset their relations with the Japanese league.

[marcshoe]

History shows again and again how nature points up the folly of man.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by UKFlounder

Would that be collusion? Would it matter in this situation?

Good question. I suppose it could be if the MLBPA wanted to make a fuss about it. I'm sure the kid fits the criteria of an amateur free agent. There's really no difference between him and some 16 year old Dominican kid.

[edabbs44]

I had no idea that she was that young when she was on SNL.

[Wonderful Monds]

Originally Posted by edabbs44

I had no idea that she was that young when she was on SNL.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by Wonderful Monds

And with that last statement in mind, I just want to throw this out - the Reds did not sign ANY international free agents, to my knowledge.

I can promise you that they did. They just didn't sign any of the top end guys you hear about.

[gilpdawg]

Originally Posted by marcshoe

History shows again and again how nature points up the folly of man.

I see what you did there.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk HD

[indy_dave00]

Nice use of Blue Oyster Cult lyrics Marc

[cincinnati chili]

Originally Posted by Wonderful Monds

So what happens now? Obviously he skips the posting process. Everyone should be on a relatively level playing field financially given those international free agent limits that came along recently right?

For the most part, it will be no different than the limits put on Taiwanese signees or Dominican signees. I'm not sure MLB will be all that bent out of shape about it. Not sure what's so precious about MLB's relationship with the Japanese leagues.

MLB doesn't want its teams interfering with guys under contract but this guy isn't under contract. I think MLB would balk if the guy wasn't 18 yet. That's the big double standard: MLB teams can go hoodwink Latin American players (other than PUerto Rico) without any agent representation as young as 16. MLB would have a cow if they did that in Japan or any country outside the developing world.