ESPN reports today that the 12 Nippon Professional Baseball teams agreed on a conditional ban for amateur players to sign overseas. The agreement was sparked by Junichi Tazawa, the 22 year-old pitcher who hopes to sign with an MLB club. It’s a two or three-year ban from playing in Japan, depending on the circumstances.
It doesn’t really sound all that discouraging. NPB apparently sent a delegation to the U.S. to discuss the situation with MLB officials. Did anything come of that meeting? Or will MLB just start signing up Japanese amateur players now?
