Japan pro baseball draft on Oct 22: what if a club picks Oda despite his US bid
In short
Japan's professional baseball draft is held in Tokyo on the 22nd. Yokohama High School pitcher Shoki Oda (織田翔希) has declared he will pursue a US baseball career, including going to university, and Mainichi Shimbun sets out how talks would run if a Japanese club picks him anyway.
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Japan's professional baseball draft is held in Tokyo on the 22nd. Oda, a pitcher at Yokohama High School in Kanagawa who had drawn attention, has declared that he will challenge US baseball, including going to university. Mainichi Shimbun asked how talks would proceed if a Japanese club picks him anyway. [ 1 , 2 ]
According to Mainichi, a club in Japan loses its negotiating rights if it has not signed a drafted player by March 31 of the following year, so a player who is picked must state his position to the club by the end of the fiscal year. Japanese high school students who want to join a Major League club after graduating fall under the international amateur free agent rules and can sign from January 15 of the following year. [ 1 , 2 ]
Mainichi cited two earlier cases. Before the 2012 draft, Shohei Ohtani, then a third-year student at Hanamaki Higashi High School (花巻東高), had declared a Major League bid. Nippon-Ham picked him, saying its policy was to pick the player it judged best. Ohtani first refused, but Nippon-Ham proposed a plan to develop him as both pitcher and hitter and he decided to join. In 2024, Morii (森井翔太郎) of Tokyo's Toho High School (桐朋高) also said he was aiming for the Major Leagues and asked Japanese clubs not to pick him. He was not picked, and his minor league contract with the Athletics was announced on January 15, 2025 (the 16th in Japan). Mainichi said attention would be on Oda's moves from the new year to the end of March. [ 1 , 2 ]
Nippon TV News reported that 276 players submitted professional baseball applications this year, 127 from high schools and 149 from universities. The previous year there were 300, made up of 124 high school and 176 university students, so university applicants fell by 27. In that year 73 players were picked, along with 43 development players. Nippon TV also named other prospects, including pitcher Komoda (菰田陽生) of Yamanashi Gakuin High School and pitcher Maeda (前田侑大) of Takaoka Daiichi High School. [ 3 ]
Why it matters
The documents leave open whether a Japanese club will pick Oda, and Mainichi points to his moves between January and the end of March as the thing to watch. The past cases it cites, Shohei Ohtani in 2012 and Shotaro Morii in 2024, ended differently.
Key facts
- The professional baseball draft is held in Tokyo on the 22nd. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Oda, a pitcher at Yokohama High School in Kanagawa, has declared a challenge to US baseball, including going to university. [ 1 , 2 ]
- In Japan, a club that drafts a player loses its negotiating rights if it has not signed him by March 31 of the following year. [ 1 , 2 ]
- A Japanese high school graduate can sign with a Major League club from January 15 of the following year under the international amateur free agent rules. [ 1 , 2 ]
- A total of 276 high school and university players submitted professional baseball applications this year: 127 high school and 149 university students. [ 3 ]
- The previous year had 300 applicants (124 high school, 176 university), so university applicants fell by 27. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Whether any Japanese club will pick Oda in the draft. The documents were published before the draft result and do not say which players were chosen.
- How US clubs view Oda. One document carries only a headline about local evaluation of his Major League bid and gives no text.