No team names first-round pick before Japan's pro baseball draft, first time in 13 years
In short
No team had announced its first-round pick by the day before the professional baseball draft, which starts at 4:50 p.m. on 22 October at a hotel in Tokyo. Livedoor News said it is the first draft in 13 years with no advance announcement. Komoda (菰田) of Yamanashi Gakuin and Watanabe (渡部) of Aoyama Gakuin University are the leading first-round candidates, and Yomiuri Shimbun's headline said competing bids are likely.
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The professional baseball draft is to be held from 4:50 p.m. on 22 October at a hotel in Tokyo. Yahoo! News Japan reported that no team had announced its first-round pick by 20 October, and Livedoor News reported that none did so on the day before the draft either. Livedoor News said this means the draft is held with no advance announcement for the first time in 13 years. [ 1 , 2 ]
Yomiuri Shimbun's headline on the morning of 22 October said Komoda, Watanabe and others were likely to draw competing bids and that no team had announced a first-round pick. [ 3 ]
According to the two reports, advance announcements had been made for the past 12 years and had become a recent trend. Livedoor News said nine teams announced in 2022, seven in 2020, and six in each of 2017 to 2019. Hiroshima, which announced in each of the last four years, held back this year; Yahoo! News Japan said it decided against an announcement at a scouting meeting on 9 October. [ 1 , 2 ]
Yahoo! News Japan gave three reasons. First, Yokohama (Kanagawa) right-hander Oda (織田), whose fastest ball is 157 km/h, said at a press conference on 15 October that he is looking at a contract with a Major League Baseball club and at US universities, and some teams drew up plans both with and without him. Second, Yamanashi Gakuin's two-way right-hander Komoda (菰田) and Aoyama Gakuin University catcher Watanabe (渡部) are the leading first-round candidates, and an announcement is less likely to make other teams back off. Third, it called this a weak year for position players, and said many teams expect to pick players such as Tokyo Gas outfielder Fujisawa (藤沢) and Asia University (亜大) infielder Yamazato (山里) in the second round or in the first round after a lost lottery, so announcing early could draw in rivals. [ 1 ]
Livedoor News gave the same reasons about popularity and position players. Yahoo! News Japan added that top university pitchers had struggled in autumn league games, and that Keio left-hander Watanabe (渡辺和) left a game on 19 October with discomfort in his left shoulder. [ 1 , 2 ]
Livedoor News also described the rules. First-round picks are made by bid lottery, repeated until every team is settled. In the second round, lower-ranked teams pick first, starting with Rakuten, sixth in the Pacific League, and then Chunichi, sixth in the Central League. The third round reverses the order, and the order alternates after that. [ 2 ]
Why it matters
Advance announcements had been made for the past 12 years and had become a recent trend, so the absence of any is unusual. The outlets link it to uncertainty over top prospects and to teams keeping their plans hidden from rivals.
Key facts
- The professional baseball draft is to be held from 4:50 p.m. on 22 October at a hotel in Tokyo. [ 1 , 2 ]
- No team had announced its first-round pick by 20 October, and none did the following day either. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Advance announcements had been made for the past 12 straight years; in 2022 nine teams did so, in 2020 seven, and in 2017 to 2019 six each year. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Hiroshima, which had announced its first-round pick in each of the last four years, did not do so this year. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Yamanashi Gakuin's two-way right-hander Komoda (菰田) and Aoyama Gakuin University catcher Watanabe (渡部) are the leading first-round candidates. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Yokohama (Kanagawa) right-hander Oda (織田) said at a 15 October press conference that he is looking at playing in the United States. [ 1 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Which players each team will select in the first round. No team had announced a pick by the eve of the draft, and the documents give no confirmed selections.
- Why teams chose not to announce. The three reasons given (Oda's undecided path, the popularity of Komoda and Watanabe, and few first-round position players) come from the outlets' own analysis, not from statements by the teams.
- Komoda and Watanabe are the leading first-round candidates, and Oda's announcement about the United States could raise their popularity further. Reported by a single source so far
- Hiroshima, which had announced in each of the past four years, held back this year. Reported by a single source so far
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Yahoo! News Japan published an article noting that no team had announced a first-round pick as of 20 October (dated 21 October). [ 1 ]
- Livedoor News reported that no team announced a first-round pick on the day before the draft (21 October). [ 2 ]
- Yomiuri Shimbun said on 22 October that Komoda, Watanabe and others are likely to draw competing bids. [ 3 ]
- The draft is scheduled to begin at a Tokyo hotel on 22 October. [ 1 , 2 ]