MLB’s rule change would affect Otani

Fighters pitcher Shohei Otani would have to accept a contract far below his market value if he moves to the major leagues before reaching age 25 because of an recent MLB rule change. | KYODO

NATIONAL, HARBOR MARYLAND – Major League Baseball prohibited its teams from paying market value for Japanese superstar Shohei Otani on Tuesday, according to a report in the U.S. media.

If the report is true, MLB’s decision could encourage young Japanese stars to sign with big league clubs straight out of high school — as Otani nearly did.

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, MLB told big league clubs that its newly agreed-upon hard cap of $5 million for overseas players under the age of 25 would not be modified for posted players.

Rosenthal tweeted: “MLB officials met today with international scouting directors. Said flatly, ‘There is no Otani exception.’ “

Otani turned 22 this year and has produced somewhat better results than a pair of Japanese stars at the same age, right-handed pitcher Yu Darvish and left-handed slugger Hideki Matsui.

On Monday, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters said they would support Otani’s desire to move to the majors via the posting system as early as next winter.

Previously, MLB’s “international signing bonus pool” was a soft cap on spending for overseas pros under the age of 23 and foreign amateurs. Had Otani been posted this year, he would have come under those provisions.

But with most everyone expecting Otani to come over after the 2017 season and attract a contract in the area of $200 million or more, MLB coincidentally raised the bar to the age of 25.

If Otani moves next year and the rules are not changed, an MLB team would not be able to offer him a contract of much more than $5 million. The amount varies from team to team.

The change makes a mockery of MLB’s agreement with NPB, because Otani would be able to freely negotiate — provided he accepts a contract far below his market value.

“This is ridiculous,” an official with one NPB team told Kyodo News upon being asked about the report. “This is something that needs to be discussed with us.”

The news is probably welcome to the Central League’s Yomiuri Giants, the most politically powerful of NPB’s 12 teams. The Giants, like the Pacific League powerhouse Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, are ideologically opposed to the posting system and refuse to make use of it.

Because of Yomiuri’s influence, NPB is unlikely to lodge a protest, something that enrages an official with another Japanese club.

“I tell them, every time you sit down in New York with these people (MLB), the big leagues benefit as a league, their clubs benefit, the Japanese players benefit, and you guys (NPB) just bend over and take it,” he said. “It makes me so upset.”

A longtime scout for major league clubs in Japan said the timing of the change makes it seem like the rule was meant for Otani.

“Just when Otani was about to come over, they changed the rules,” he said, remembering that Otani had been very close to signing directly with an MLB club out of high school.

“This is great for MLB, because it could encourage players who want to __play in MLB to go directly to the States instead of to NPB. That might have been the intention.”

Should that happen, those players could be purchased for a song as untested amateurs, and would become the property of MLB teams with no chance at the age of 22 for the kind of money Otani would command now in a free market.

There may potentially be ways around the hard spending limit, but MLB is doing nothing to make the move easier for the world’s most intriguing player.