Hideo Nomo And The Posting System - Asian Baseballers

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Monday, July 15, 2024

Hideo Nomo And The Posting System

 

 

Hideo Nomo was a Dodger sensation.

 

Many things were unknown when Hideo Nomo debuted in MLB, as there had not been a Japanese player in the major leagues in thirty years since Masanori Murakami. It was so difficult for a Japanese player to gain free agency that Nomo had to find a loophole to sign with the Dodgers. He retired from baseball. A small loophole enabled retired players who want to play again to sign with any team they want. This would then lead to the implementation of the NPB-MLB posting system in which teams may bid to negotiate with the player, a system designed by the GM of the Orix Bluewave Shigeyoshi Ino to allow smooth transitions of NPB players who want to play in MLB.

 

Hideki Irabu of the Chiba Lotte Marines was a little bit different. He was traded to the San Diego Padres but did not want to play for them. He wanted to play for the Yankees. The Yankees were not to be blamed, since he was a good pitcher. He struggled with the Yankees to the frustration of George Steinbrenner, leading George even to call him something derogatory regarding his weight. It was a very frustrating moment for baseball in general. This led to the implementation of the posting system.

 



So, why is this so?

 

There were holes in the negotiations between MLB and NPB. Irabu was a straight-out trade between the San Diego Padres and the Chiba Lotte Marines. No big deal, right? With no desire to play for the Padres, Irabu demanded a trade. In the posting system, the team that wins the bid wins the right to exclusively negotiate with the player. The NPB had to do this so they could maintain order and somehow use the compensated cash to redevelop talents, so it was designed to be a win-win situation. In the event the team cannot reach an agreement with the player, his rights revert to the NPB team. This prevents a direct trade between an NPB and MLB team, leaving the player a level of control over whether he should sign. 

 

The last straw had something to do with Alfonso Soriano. And you guessed it. Soriano was unhappy with his contract and decided to retire from the NPB, borrowing a page from Hideo Nomo's handbook. The NPB tried their best to stop the deal from happening, but since there were no official rules barring a player from doing so, Soriano signed with the New York Yankees. He later became a seven-time All-Star. Not bad at all. 

 

After the Soriano debacle, it became the deciding factor that led to the posting system. It is by far an imperfect system, but as wise men can say, "It's the best one we've got."

 

The MLB-NPB agreement does not include Japanese players who have never played an NPB game and American players who have never played an MLB game, as these types of players are considered to be free agents. It would not, for example, include Rintaro Sasaki when he declares for the MLB draft because he had never thrown a single pitch in the NPB. He skipped the NPB draft altogether. On the other side, although it was not directly from high school like Sasaki, Carter Stewart, the number 8 overall pick of the Atlanta Braves decided to go to Japan rather than MLB. Guaranteed money may have played a role in Carter's decision to play overseas. 


The posting system remained under the radar for a long time even though Ichiro, Yu Darvish, Masahiro Tanaka, and Shohei Ohtani were all signed via the posting system. Asian players are becoming more prevalent in MLB than ever before, as a wave of Asian players from Japan and Korea sign up for MLB. In Korea, Lee Jung Hoo was the most prominent one other than Ha Seung-Kim. Goo Woo-Suk as well. The KBO and NPB posting system is similar to one another structurally. MLB team pays a fee and then earns the right to negotiate. 

 

More nuances in the system subject foreign-born players under the age of 25 to restrictions on how much they can earn. This is what happened to Shohei Ohtani. He was subjected to earning way less money because he signed before the allowed age of full free agency of 29. Players who are 25 can sign; however, they will be subject to a posting fee. The current release fee is subject to the actual amount the player signs and differs in several set levels agreed upon in the NPB-MLB agreement. In the advent there are bonuses, the Japanese team can also have a cut of about 15% of that bonus. 

 

As stated earlier, it is not a perfect system, but it does help level the playing field. And, finding common ground is all that is important


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