Japanese superstar Shohei Otani has not made anything official, but indications continue to gather that he will indeed seek a move to the majors over the offseason to come. After reports emerged recently that Otani was lining up to request that he be made available by his current team, the Nippon Ham Fighters, the 23-year-old pitcher/outfielder has now begun to interview MLB player agents, according to a report from Jon Heyman of Fan Rag.
It seems that Otani and those close to him have already begun the process in earnest, with a variety of well-known agents making the trek to Japan (even as MLB executives do the same). Heyman’s report suggests that the search for a rep is moving at a healthy clip, with Otani said to be possibly preparing to “begin a second round of interviews within the next week or so” after narrowing the field of possibilities.
Otani is widely regarded as the best baseball player in the world that isn’t currently wearing a MLB uniform. Given his age and immense talent (as both a pitcher and a hitter), there’s little question that Otani would command a nine-figure commitment were he free of the international bonus pool caps.
Because he is less than 25 years of age, and evidently does not wish to wait to make the move, Otani can receive only a minor-league deal that almost certainly won’t top seven figures. The precise bonus that each team can offer varies widely, but in no event can a team accumulate and dispense more than $10.1MM under the current system. And even those teams that could reach that figure will have committed some funds to other players. Quite a few organizations — including some that seem to be looking into Otani — cannot even give more than $300K to a single player, owing to penalties imposed under the prior bonus system. (Whatever team signs Otani would also need to send $20MM to the Fighters, though that element of the player exchange rules is said to be up for potential discussion before the offseason transactions get underway in earnest.)
With that backdrop, Otani’s meetings with prospective agents are all the more interesting to ponder. Just what he’ll prioritize in deciding upon a MLB team — geography, the ability to play both ways, likelihood of contention, marketing opportunities, long-term extension possibilities — isn’t clear. And his precise approach will surely be influenced by what he believes to be possible after this series of sit-downs.
Many have speculated that Otani could seek — and teams could offer — a handshake agreement of some kind to enter into an early-career extension. While the league has indicated it will police any attempts to evade the bonus pool rules, there seems to be a broad gray area that could theoretically be encountered. Just how far will Otani’s agents and organizational suitors go in weighing a future contract during initial talks? How long might they wait to formalize any such agreement? What would happen if injury or performance issues intervene to change the future expectations? These are fascinating questions that we won’t know the answers to for some time — if the issues even fully form — but the groundwork for how things may play out is being laid right now.
acarneglia
*clears throat* Boras
thegreatcerealfamine
Would be the smart move on Otani’s part…
pt57
It would be smarter for him to wait a couple of years to be free of bonus pool restrictions. A handshake side deal is worthless.
thegreatcerealfamine
He needs management representation for endorsements also.
Voidhelix
That’s exactly what a handshake deal IS…? That any prospective team would wait a couple of years before buying out his arbitration….
Voidhelix
Nah, 99% of Otani’s endorsements are already handled by his reps in Japan.
Gret1wg
Disagree, BORAS may get the most $, but this isn’t solely about $, & might be more beneficial for the plyr to get to the US & quickly sign an extension
JKB 2
Why would Boras be the smart move?
66TheNumberOfTheBest
I’d find out who got Rusney Castillo $72 million and start from there.
trident
Lol
Gret1wg
Bad evaluations!
Gret1wg
Poor evaluations got him 72
Philliesfan4life
Angels have the money , they need a young ace
alexgordonbeckham
Spending is capped so every team has the money. I would also think there would be a lot of push back if he signed extension after 1 year that buys out his 2-6 years of control including arbitration years (likely no free agent years) unless it was a reasonable amount of money (maybe a bit more than what Tim Anderson got from the White Sox, minus the option years?)
joemoes
The spending is capped but some teams have a lot more money to offer. The Yankees have one of the highest bonus pools in 3million range where many teams have only 300k
Coast1
You’re right. It doesn’t matter who his agent is, teams are limited in the money they can spend. There’s no way MLB will approve a contract after one year that’s greater than what guys like Tim Anderson got. People keep thinking there’s a loophole.
The Red Sox thought they found a loophole to the $300k per player international spending limit. When they did MLB stripped them of four players they signed and barred them from signing anyone for a year. So a team cheating with Otani would likely lose him and a whole lot more.
alexgordonbeckham
I hope you’re right. If he signed a big extension after his first season, it would feel like tampering. “Hey, we will give you this signing bonus and you will earn league minimum for your first season but we will agree to give you what you would earn if you came over as a free agent.”
Brixton
If they extended his team control past the 6 normal years, they could potentially get away with it. How different would it be than Evan Longorja who signed an extension like 2 weeks into his career
alexgordonbeckham
I think it depends on what kind of money we are talking about. I just realized if he were to sign a deal similar to Longoria and Anderson signed, he’d likely be giving up millions of dollars he could have earned through arbitration and the whole point of the extension would be a work around of him not getting paid right away,
tim815
Do you want your team to cheat in efforts to obtain Otani?
If that is done, and perhaps if your side’s cheating doesn’t add him, your team could be harshly punished.,
Cubs guy. Offer $300,000 with only two “legal” “and ones”.
The parent club will have a six-man rotation.
He would get three starts per week in LF.
Only guarantees I’d want the Cubs to make.
If someone wants to have their team cheat, have at it.
tim815
How many weeks after Longoria signed his first professional deal, did he sign that extension?
Dookie Howser, MD
Drafted in June 2016 and signed the extension in April 2018. So 90-ish weeks?
Coast1
Longoria signed his first professional deal in June 2006. He got to the Majors in April 2008 and signed a contract extension 6 days later. The contract was for 6 years $17 million with 3 options that ended up making it a 9 year $44 million deal.
Tim Anderson hit the Majors in June 2016 and signed a 6 year $25 million deal in March 2017. Two club options would put the deal at 8 years $50 million.
Otani could get at least an 8 year $160 million deal right now. So signing a long term deal that MLB would approve wouldn’t get him close.
alexgordonbeckham
Yes he could and I think it would be bs if he were to receive that kind of contract after 1 year under his belt knowing that the extension was negotiated while he was an amateur free agent.
tim815
Thanks for using the “cheating” terminology.
Offering him a second contract before the first one is cheating. It’s up to the league to punish cheaters. Whether Manfred will or not is up in the air.
Coast1
Offering a second contract that would be out of line with Tim Anderson would be cheating. Offering a similar contract to Anderson wouldn’t be.
tim815
Then that would be the earliest any team could start to _talk about_ a second contract, per precedent.
_Talking about_ (officially or unofficially) a second contract less than a year after Otani signs his first contract should be harshly punished.
tim815
On which day was the first game of Evan Longoria’s pro career?
tim815
It depends on which day the first mention of a “second contract” is brought up between the two sides.
If it is first mentioned in February of 2019, then yeah.
If it is first mentioned in November or December of 2017, then no penalty should be considered harsh enough.
AGAVE
Eppler pretending he has Steinbrenner funding to attract Otani.
Next
jd396
The new bonus rule is engineered for an entirely different mode of entry into the league than a guy coming over with several years of NPB experience… they ought to factor in NPB service time to determine eligibility for the rule.
Coast1
Both MLB and MLBPA agreed to this. Otani is a very unusual situation since no established Japanese player has ever come over before age 25. Tanaka was 25. It’s rare that a player would be good enough before age 25 to draw huge interest and also want to come over. If Otani wants the money he can wait two years. If not, he has to do it the way American and Latino players do.
barnstormer
My money is on Wasserman’s Adam Katz.
strostro
My prediction is Boras
Realtexan
Boras and the Rangers will pick him up
s2alliot
Don Nomura is my guess.
bravesfan88
Maybe he goes with Ichiro’s current agent John Boggs, from JBA, John Boggs & Associates…??
Has anyone heard of any rumblings who might be in the lead, or who might be getting scheduled for a second round of interviews??
DD martin
If I were the Mariners I’d re-sign Ichiro to a 1 year deal and have him help in landing Otani in Seattle. Then he could play with a true Japanese legend.
Jim Allen
Alan Nero is well respected in Japan, as is Don Nomura.
InvalidUserID
Can someone give sort of a broad view of how the international pool money works? Reading things like “Yankees have most money” while reading “teams are capped” and “all teams have money” is a little confusing.
DD martin
Per Baseball America
When the 2017-18 international signing period opens on July 2, it will mark the beginning of the hard cap era for international signings.
Most teams have a bonus pool of $4.75 million, while some clubs classified as small market or small revenue teams get either $5.25 million or $5.75 million. Teams are allowed to trade their pool space once the signing period opens on July 2. Clubs can trade for up to 75 percent of their original pool allotment and are allowed to trade away their entire pool.
Teams that exceeded their bonus pools to incur a penalty will still be unable to sign any player for more than $300,000 during the 2017-18 signing period. The Cubs, Dodgers, Giants and Royals will be in their second year of the penalty, while the A’s, Astros, Braves, Cardinals, Nationals, Padres and Reds will be in their first penalty year. Teams under the penalty are denoted below with an asterisk (*).
Bonuses of $10,000 are exempt from the pools, as are players who are at least 25 and have played six or more seasons in a foreign professional league.
$5.75 Million
Arizona Diamondbacks
Baltimore Orioles
Cleveland Indians
Colorado Rockies
Kansas City Royals*
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals*
San Diego Padres*
Read more at baseballamerica.com/international/2017-18-internat…
tim815
Not even sure how anyone could “not like” a post as informative as this one.
Thank you for rolling with it.
InvalidUserID
Thanks, that helped a lot!
Voidhelix
Every team has a capped figure. Small market teams have a bigger number than the rest. Teams at $300K have over-spent in the past and been penalized. Teams that have upwards of $10M have traded for extra pool money.
Codybellingersgrandma
Otani wants to play with Cody bellinger. They were kids together
slider32
Ohtani fits the Yanks like a glove,, they will make a strong pitch for him. His swing is made for Yankee stadium, and they need another strong pitcher. They will give him the option to DH when he does’t pitch.
tim815
Will the Yankees cheat to get him? Will they need to?
Voidhelix
Like they did with Ruth…?
Voidhelix
CAA’s widely regarded as the best agency in baseball. I could see him signing with them. Would make the links to the LA Dodgers VERY interesting.
leftcoaster
Should sign with Trout’s agent, Craig Landis, and sign with the Angels.