There has been pressure by Japanese fans or clubs to sign but more and more young players seem to be interested in skipping NPB and going straight to MLB and dealing with being groomed in MiLB. NPB teams seem to overuse or rush players as opposed to MLB teams. if he skipped NPB there would be a penalty of waiting 3 years before he could return to NPB or if he told the 12 NPB teams not to draft him becuase he will be coming to America there would be a 2 year ban before he could return. Nothing else would occur other then maybe he would be slightly frowned upon...

Also his clock would not start until he became a full-time ML player. Just like any other international FA

Dude, that Eric guy is an ass. The one dude was talking baseball,,,suggested that it might be a little bit early to start threads on high schoolers on a MLB forum. Too bad there's not more traffic in his other site or else he wouldn't be pushing us around during in our Joey vacuum.

didn't realize he wasn't with a team, so disregard everything I mentioned above.

October 11, 2012 at 10:42 PM | eric reining

LAUGH MY ASS OFF. READY--SHOOT-AIM

To all you people bitching about us talking about an 18 year Japanese pitcher you have to look at what site your on. It'sj BBTIA a fan site. Fan = short for fanatic. It's the offseason what else is there to talk about? You click on the forum topic that says we're talking about an 18 year old and then bitch about us talking about an 18 year old?!?!?! What the H?!?! GTFO

I wonder if he is part Iranian. His mechanics seem fluid and of little effort, which bodes well for his projectability. He will probably have 37 different pitches at the Majors and require 12 personal catchers just to keep track of them all, subbing in-game when he wants to throw this or that pitch. But in the end it doesn't matter if this kid throws 199 mph. He will never see the light of day as long as Wash is around, which seems to be forever these days. If you are not already an established commodity then you can't play for Wash.

...has declared he's coming state-side. Hopefully signs with Rangers, cannot have enough power arms in the system.

We should be in a good spot. We didn't sign any top end players and should have the bulk of our signing bonus left to give to him, and at least according to Cole the deal would count against this years, 2012's, international pool. Should leave us in a very good situation as far as having the most available to give him.

Youthin Asia:
Your quote-"-If you are not already an established commodity then you can't play for Wash."
Borbon-Andrus-Moreland-Murphy-Gentry-Holland-Feliz-Oagando-Ross-ETC

Just not true.

I really want to get this kid. On the macro level it gives us another young gun in our farm system; on the micro level, the more Japanese influence we have, the better. It'd be nice to generate a pipeline for their richest talent.

@Tex Baseball,

you're serious? Half of those examples you provided actually disprove your point rather than substantiate it.

YAWWWNNN! None were established until Wash played them..

Borbon was thrown under the bus repeatedly in the media by Wash, and ultimately, won't play another game for the team even though he has performed well in AAA.

Gentry... I'll just quote what Mike Hindman said: " Craig Gentry spent weeks at a time on the bench in spite of doing everything you could have possibly asked him to do when called upon. Delivering a breakthrough .304 / .367 / .392 / .759 performance at the plate and once again providing what was, by far, the best outfield defense of any Ranger didn't earn him much. As the club fell apart down the stretch, Gentry appeared -- if at all -- as a pinch runner or late-inning defensive replacement."

How about Olt and Profar? Either would have been a TREMENDOUS help to the team in place of a struggling Kinsler and a hurt Beltre (and subsequently, putting Young at 3rd/SS/2nd)

Moreland, same thing. Moreland didn't do well against LHPs, but he also wasn't given any consistent playing time to prove otherwise.

I don't think Gnuts even knows what she is arguing about.

Andrus-Holland-Ogando-Ross-Murphy-Moreland.

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/10/21/japanese-high-school-pitcher-shohei-otani-opts-for-mlb-over-japan-professional/

let the games begin..

Yep, hes coming over despite his parents telling him not to. Supposedly, the dodgers are the frontrunners because of their seemingly endless pockets and the fact that they have scouted him the longest. But, the blue jays were the frontrunners for darvish and we know how that turned out. I never underestimate JD's sneakiness. I'd like to see some comparisons and analysis of where he would fit amongst the 2012 draft picks and 2012 international FAs for reference if anyone sees one.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Rangers have more international funds than others because they didn't break off too much this last year. Also, I've read a couple places that this 18 year-old idolizes Yu Darvish. I think the Rangers have as good a shot as anyone.

Like. Do want.

Ive actually tried but I havent been able to find who has what left from their pool. However, a team can go over their pool. They just incur a tax and/or have money taken away next year. Its the rumor mill that places the odds with the dodgers because theyve scouted him the longest and have shown they arent afraid to burn money (i.e. possibly go over the pool and take the tax). Like I said though, its the same rumor mill that gave the blue jays the best odds of signing darvish.

It'll be a very intriguing story because he will be the first to forego NPB (or at least the first potential #1 NPB draft pick). This is a trailblazing situation.

I'm sure Billy Beane and the Oakland A's will take this kid :p

The silence is eerie. But my sources (Keith Law) tell me this should be resolved by end of the week. I have a good feeling the Rangers will get him.

@nateaggie He was being courted by every NPB team and was sure to be #1 there. I don't remember where I read it, but one GM was saying he would be in the first half of the 1st round here and could have even gone #1 if he was eligible.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/texas_rangers/index.html

Not sure how many people read this, but if he does get drafted in the NPB draft that team will have first rights at negotiating with him, and they would have until March to make a deal, so this guy could possibly not sign until the start of next season. Especially since the Nippon Ham Fighters GM has already stated they planned on taking him with the first pick in the draft.

He in fact was drafted, it seems as though it will be a while before this guy will be able to decide on an MLB team.