Left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara is looking to move to the majors, and as per a report from Yahoo Sports Japan (Japanese language link), he’ll ask the Chunichi Dragons to make him available to MLB teams via the posting system this offseason. The Yakyu Cosmopolitan also reported earlier this year that Ogasawara was aiming to pitch for a big league team in 2025, and MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported (via X) back in April that Major League scouts were watching Ogasawara pitch in Japan.
The southpaw celebrates his 27th birthday on Tuesday, and he has appeared with the Dragons in each of the last nine Nippon Professional Baseball seasons. However, since he is short of nine full years of NPB service time, Ogasawara will need to be posted in order to make the move to North American baseball.
To recap the posting system, any team that signs Ogasawara will have to pay a separate posting fee to the Dragons that is contingent on the size of the contract — the 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, plus 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any dollars thereafter. If Ogasawara is posted, Major League teams will have 45 days to reach an agreement with the left-hander. If no deal is reached within that window of time, Ogasawara will return to the Dragons for the 2025 NPB season.
Ogasawara has a 3.66 ERA over 1095 career innings for the Dragons, and he has tossed at least 141 1/3 innings in each of the last four seasons. In 2024, he had a 2.99 ERA in 141 1/3 frames, with a very impressive 3.42% walk rate but also only a 13.87% strikeout rate. While Ogasawara’s control has only been getting better during his NPB career, he has never been a big strikeout pitcher, and this season’s low rate of missed bats will certainly stand out as a potential red flag to big league evaluators.
It remains to be seen how highly Ogasawara will be judged by MLB teams, though he’ll be one of the youngest rotation candidates available in this year’s free agent market. With scouts already keeping an eye on his work for the Dragons, Ogasawara figures to draw some attention should the Dragons decide to post him.
That name is definitely a mouth full. How i miss the days of Harry Carey butchering names on a daily basis during Cubs games on WGN
Can he pitch more than 5 innings, if so sign him up.
Do you care about the quality of the innings are just getting through them?
“Orawa… owara… I’m not even gonna TRY to say that name backwards!”
Just make sure he does not hire a degenerate gambler as an interpreter.
More accurate would be to make sure he’s not a degenerate gambler who is willing to throw his life long friends under the bus at the behest of greed.
Uh…..wot?
I wish mlb players stop using interpreters all the time like I get it if you just came to the US within 5 years
But if you are someone like Jose Ramirez where you’ve been here for a long time but still never speak English that makes you look lazy
The interpreter issue is actually (usually) requested by teams – it allow the player to express himself freely in his native tongue but equally, and in this word of global media and rumour mongering , protects both the team and player from dubious or inane comments. I worked for a time as a translator at the UN if I had literally translated some of remarks or statements we would have been in World Wars every other weekend !
Was a time once when had to take an English proficiency test in order to become a US citizen. Doubt it was required for visa’s, which am guessing is what ballplayer’s have, but wouldn’t shock me.
On the gambling issue bay another member here? The game itself and the pure greed issue.. How many gambling/betting commercials were each subjected to during every playoff game so far.. “bet 5$, win 200$!!” Maybe, just maybe 1 day someone will come down hard on the game for helping to turn a generation into “white tie” gamblers, instead of the ones who would go down to the end of the street and hustle with dice. No difference, just folks losing money and the game raking it in via adds for the ripoff.
maybe 1 day someone will come down hard on the game for helping to turn a generation into “white tie” gamblers,
=======================
In an ideal world, I’d like to see a whole lot of social “vices” legalized, but banned from advertising. It disgusts me when gazillionaires like the Manning brothers endorse gambling, and when other gazillionaires like Brady and Curry endorse bitcoins they know nothing about.
They’re trading their souls for money they will never have a chance to use.
@JoeBrady This had been going on forever with sneakers, clothing, etc. produced by kids and forced labor in foreign sweatshops. China has been better about this with their rising standards of living for common citizens. These companies just move their factories to poorer countries with less oversight. Celebrity endorsers are not ignorant to these facts.
Jorge Lopez’s Mets tenure makes a pretty good argument on the importance of interpreters.
@sad
Does it really matter that much to you? not everyone needs to speak your language. Its not mandatory they speak English. What a idiotic and ignorant comment. Speaking of lazy, aren’t you sitting on your couch writing this while these dudes are out on the field for your entertainment? lmao.
*sigh* I’m gonna go permanently live in the Dominican Republic and not learn their language
It wouldn’t be fun for the native workers there that have to try to understand me right?
We’re not talking about the DR were talking about Japanese to English, In which here in America we have translating apps, translators, and shohei speaks a little bit of English anyway.
Our country is the most diverse in the world, so we already have ways to control and help it.
It took me 10 years to learn the English language fluently when I first came here from Russia. Not everyone is going to learn the exact same either.
He speaks a bit more than a little English. He speaks it fluently. Similar to Ichiro who spoke pretty much fluent English and Spanish but preferred to communicate in Spanish to his teammates and used interpreter for press so they didnt misquote him.
sigh.
“Throw his life long friends”…Yes, I’m sure Ippei Mizuhara was willing to do up to 33 years in U.S Federal prison, just to protect his “life long friend”, Ohtani.
Nobody can “Throw you under the bus”, if you haven’t done anything wrong.
Clearly you’re unfamiliar with the justice system in the United States. Here we have politicians signing laws to arrest people for crimes the politicians openly admit they’ve done.
Also, for 50MM for my family, I would consider federal prison.
why do people call them life long friends? He met him when he came to the US after signing with the Angels.
el_chapo……….
Mizuhara and Ohtani met in 2013 when Ohtani (19 at the time) joined the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, he was the team interpreter so the term “lifelong’ is a bit overplayed.
If you have evidence, you should turn it over to IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Oh wait…I forgot MLB is so, so powerful the controlled all those agencies so Ohtani would get off scot free.
Smallish lefty with declining K rate. Not sure he profiles as a starter, but we’ll see.
Ogasawara isn’t an ace ( even in Japan he was a #2/3 ) but he ticks a lot of boxes : young (27) , relatively healthy, eats innings and has excellent control of the offerings he has. Biggest “red flag” isn’t the low K rate but adapating to US ball and in between rest as in Japan they pitch only once a week . But a 3-45 deal is very much likely and Shota’s first season in Chicago shows that NPB pitchers’ adapt quicker than previously .
No way he gets anywhere close to that. A sub 15% K rate is weak 5th starter territory like Martin Perez or Marco Gonzalez. Therefore, I’d be surprised if he got more than $10M guaranteed. Maybe something like 1yr/$4M with incentives for IP and another team option?
Shota’s success shouldn’t have any bearing on him. Very different pitchers. I doubt he gets more than a couple million bucks guaranteed. Those K numbers just don’t play.
3/45 is some serious money. He won’t get even half that guaranteed money.
I am sure one of the large markets will love having another guy from Japan in their pocket.
Pass.
Maybe a good target for a small market team looking to rebuild. If you lose, he’s heap. But if he is any good, you trade him.
A 62mph curveball? That’s what 13-14 years olds throw.
144 innings
151 hits
82 K’s
3.12 ERA
5’11 180 lbs
Good luck!
That spells long relief
eh, i’d take him on a show me contract with butt loads of bonuses and a couple options taking him to age 30 so he can be a FA in his prime.
based just on stats, if it translates he seems like he could be a decent mid/backend guy
30’s prime? Sigh.