MLB: Official: Shohei Ohtani changes to the MLB

Japan’s baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani will join the MLB this winter. A new posting-agreement between the MLB, MLBPA and NPB clears the way. Accordingly, the old model will take effect this year, while a new system will be implemented starting next season.

Negotiations between the two leagues and the players’ union were successfully concluded on Tuesday, after the parties had finally decided to postpone their own deadline by 24 hours.

Details of the new system have not yet been mentioned, but will be presented after it has been approved by the 30 teams.

For Ohtani, the previous system will thus take effect. This means that teams can offer a maximum of 20 million dollars to negotiate with the star of the Nippon Ham Fighters. After a successful transfer to the States, this amount will be paid to the Fighters.

Ohtani, on the other hand, is only 23 years old and is therefore regarded as an international amateur player, which means that he falls below the MLB’s signing pool limits. He can only receive a minor contract and a signing bonus from the teams’ bonus pool.

As things stand at present, the Texas Rangers could offer the most money with 3.535 million dollars, followed by the Yankees (3.5 million) and Twins (2.245 million). The Pirates (2,266,750), Marlins (1.74 million) and Mariners (1,570,500) are the remaining teams that still have more than a million dollars at their disposal.

If Ohtani had waited another two years, he would have been able to negotiate a treaty freely and possibly earn more than 200 million dollars. But he kept stressing that he was not primarily interested in the financial side of things:”I want to go into an environment where I can continue to improve,”said the pitcher and designated hitter at a press conference in Tokyo,”I had the same feeling when I graduated from high school. And it’s the biggest reason I want to leave right now.”

This article was published without prior view by the Major League Baseball.