Rintaro Sasaki poses for photos at the Sunken Diamond baseball field at Stanford University in … More Stanford, Calif., Friday, May 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Major League Baseball’s popularity in Japan is rapidly changing the country’s culture and fandom. Ball players are willing to assume risk and sacrifice tens of millions of dollars to pursue their dreams of playing Major League Baseball years before they are eligible for international free agency. Japanese teenagers such as Shotaro Morii and Rintaro Sasaki have bypassed Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) altogether in favor of becoming an international amateur free agent and playing college baseball in the United States of America. Morii, an 18-year-old two-way player, signed a minor league contract with the Athletics in January 2025 and received a bonus of $1,510,500 according to the Associated Press. Sasaki, a 19-year-old phenomenon, is making a name for himself at Stanford University while breaking the hearts of NPB fans and owners in his native country.

Rintaro Sasaki Bypasses Nippon Professional Baseball

International free agency cannot occur for Japanese ball players from NPB until they have achieved nine years of professional experience. Domestic free agency begins after seven or eight years depending upon whether a ball player was drafted out of high school or college. The Japanese Posting System has seen a variety of structural and financial revisions in recent years. Ball players can request to be posted by their NPB clubs and if accommodated, they can negotiate with all 30 major league clubs over a period of 45 days.

A ball player can sign a major league contract, and their former NPB club will receive a release fee based on surcharges associated with thresholds in the total guaranteed value of the contract. This only occurs if a ball player is at least 25 years old and has played a minimum of six seasons in NPB. Otherwise, they are considered international amateur free agents and subjected to bonus pool restrictions and spending caps for major league clubs while signing a minor league contract accompanied by a bonus. According to the Japanese Posting System, the release fee for an international amateur free agent is 25% of the signing bonus paid to their former NPB club.

Roki Sasaki, a 23-year-old right-handed pitcher with a devastating splitter, was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines in December 2024 after four seasons (2021-2024). He cost the Los Angeles Dodgers a minor league contract, $6.5 million signing bonus and release fee of $1.625 million according to the Associated Press. Sasaki followed the same path as designated hitter/right-handed pitcher and teammate, Shohei Ohtani. In December 2017, Ohtani received a $2.315 million bonus after signing a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Angels prior to his age-23 season. Ohtani spent five seasons (2013-2017) with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters who received a $20 million release fee paid by the Angels according to the Associated Press.

Japanese right-hander pitcher Roki Sasaki, 23, poses with Los Angeles Dodgers President and CEO Stan … More Kasten, left, general manager Brandon Gomes, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and manager Dave Roberts at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Unlike Ohtani and Sasaki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was a 25-year-old right-handed pitcher when he was posted by the Orix Buffaloes in November 2023 after seven seasons (2017-2023). He signed a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Due to revisions in the Japanese Posting System which were implemented in November 2018, the Dodgers paid the Buffaloes a release fee of $50.625 million according to the Associated Press.

Rintaro Sasaki Adds Intrigue To College Baseball

As Roki Sasaki acclimates to life with the Dodgers, Rintaro Sasaki prepares for his first season of college baseball at Stanford University. A 6-foot-0, 275-pound first baseman, Sasaki set a Japanese high school record by hitting 140 home runs. His father, Hiroshi Sasaki, is the head baseball coach at Hanamaki Higashi High School, a program that has produced the incomparable Ohtani and left-handed pitcher Yusei Kikuchi of the Los Angeles Angels. Sasaki was named Preseason Freshman of the Year by Baseball America and is expected this spring to challenge the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) single-season freshman home run record of 27 set in 2022 by Tommy White while playing for North Carolina State University.

Sasaki did not register for the October 2023 NPB draft, but was viewed as a once in a generation prospect who would have been the number one overall pick. A left-handed hitting slugger, Sasaki is determined to create a new pathway for Japanese ball players who have a passion to play college baseball in the United States of America and aspire to careers in Major League Baseball. Besides pursuing a world-class education, Sasaki is part of a historic college baseball program while playing against outstanding competition in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). As a treasure trove of talent, 65 ball players from the conference were selected in the 2024 Major League Baseball draft according to the ACC.

TRENTON, NJ – JULY 07: Rintaro Sasaki #3 of the Trenton Thunder at bat during the game against the … More West Virginia Black Bears on July 7, 2024 at Trenton Thunder Ballpark in Trenton, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Rintaro Sasaki Seeks Development Opportunities

Over the next two college baseball seasons, Sasaki will have an opportunity to develop into a major league draft prospect. Besides the cultural and language differences, he has already experienced an important first step by playing in amateur and summer collegiate baseball leagues. Sasaki spent time with the Trenton Thunder in the MLB Draft League and the Greeneville Flyboys of the Appalachian League. While only practicing with the Stanford University baseball team last spring, both summer experiences provided Sasaki with opportunities to work on his defense, conditioning and adjusting to a different level of competition when it comes to pitch velocities and repertories.

As an international student-athlete, Sasaki cannot engage in opportunities regarding Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), but he will be eligible for Major League Baseball’s 2026 draft. Besides sacrificing a signing bonus and the comfort of pursuing a professional career in Japan, Sasaki would have been the face of an NPB franchise. A great sense of nationalism would have been felt if a 25-year-old Sasaki developed into an international superstar while spending at least six seasons with an NPB club who could then richly benefit from the release fee in the Japanese Posting System.

The significance of Ichiro Suzuki’s recent election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum goes well beyond being the first Japanese-born ball player enshrined in the hallowed halls of Cooperstown. It signifies how the globalization of Major League Baseball is woven deeply into the sport’s culture. Transformative superstars such as Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are inspiring a new generation of Japanese ball players to think boldly and from a global perspective. Nippon Professional Baseball must quickly adapt as it will continue to face challenges from the likes of Shotaro Morii, Rintaro Sasaki and others who dream of wearing major league uniforms representing the Los Angeles Dodgers instead of the Yomiuri Giants.