The posting system between Major League Baseball and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball remains in flux, creating some question as to whether vaunted right-hander/slugger Shohei Otani will ultimately be made available to big league clubs this offseason. Otani isn’t the only person whose shot at a Major League opportunity is in question, however; as the Japan Times reports, submarine righty Kazuhisa Makita could also be posted for MLB clubs if a new agreement between MLB and NPB can be reached.
“We plan to give him the green light,” said Lions executive Haruhiko Suzuki when asked about honoring Makita’s request to be posted for MLB clubs. “We are moving in that direction. He has a strong desire (to move to the majors through the posting system). We haven’t heard the outcome (of the negotiations). We will wait for that, then submit paperwork.”
Unlike Otani, the 32-year-old Makita is not a young star headed into his prime. Rather, he’s long been a successful starter and reliever. Makita is still subject to the posting system, though, because he did not begin his pro career in Japan until the age of 26, thus leaving him shy of the requisite nine years of service time to be considered a free agent under Japan’s rules. However, under MLB’s collective bargaining agreement, Makita would be considered a professional. In other words: he’s subject to the posting system but not to international bonus pools. If he is indeed posted, he’ll be able to sign for any amount with whichever teams meet his posting amount.
It’s far from clear what type of posting figure/release fee would’ve been placed on Makita by the Lions anyhow. The 32-year-old was the Pacific League Rookie of the Year back in 2011, the report notes, and he owns an excellent 2.83 ERA in 921 1/3 career innings. After moving to the bullpen full time in 2016, he’s posted a minuscule 1.91 ERA in nearly 150 innings. Makita’s submarine delivery could well hold appeal to a wide swath of clubs looking to give opponents a different look in the middle and late innings of a game.
However, Makita also generates an abnormally low number of strikeouts for a pitcher with his success, and some big league clubs will likely harbor trepidation as a result. Makita has averaged just five punchouts per nine innings over the course of his pro career in Japan, though to his credit he’s averaged just two walks per nine innings. In 147 1/3 innings over the past two seasons, Makita has issued just 19 unintentional walks, but he’s also hit 13 batters in that time.
Batted-ball data for NPB isn’t readily available, but a delivery as extreme as that of Makita figures to lend itself to weak contact — especially from right-handed opponents. His blend of a low strikeout rate with strong walk rates and plenty of weak contact isn’t all that dissimilar from free-agent righty Brandon Kintzler or from Marlins sidearm righty Brad Ziegler, so there’s certainly precedent for that skill set playing well in the Majors in today’s game. Whether he’s ultimately made available to big league clubs is entirely dependent on negotiations between MLB and NPB, but he’d be another name to watch for bullpen-hungry teams in free agency this winter.
I remember this team. This is the same team that posted Daisuke Matsuzaka for a $51MM posting fee to Boston 10+years ago.
Those were the days.
The highest it can go is $20 million.
Yeah, Yu Darvish was the last.
Texas ended up winning Darvish for a $51.7MM posting fee to the Nippon-Ham Fighters (Otani’s current team) Winter of 2011 before 2012 season.
This would prove to be the last major signing, until the $20MM posting cap.
It’s worth noting, the posting system’s in flux now, and negotiations are pending.
Dervish wasn’t the last
Tanika with the Yankees was the last star to come
I think he means last of the unlimited posting fees
Ironically, both Dice-K and Darvish got $51.1MM-$51.7MM bids.
So safe to say, if the posting system was uncapped, with no “under-25” rule, that’s how much Otani would receive right?
He’s gonna go to the cubs
Along with every other free agent
Lions have a lefty ace that could be an interesting posting candidate. Yusei Kikuchi. Look him up.
Could be. Since the agreement is being collectively bargained all the rules for Japanese players could change from what we’ve been assuming.
$20 million cap? Poof!
Age requirement to qualify? Poof!
Otani could suddenly be open to bidding as Darvish was. That should be the position of the union, but they seem to always agree to the opposite, which shoots their members in the head.
Who will be the next Texas Ranger??? The soap opera cont.
MLBTR a little inside info unrelated to this article. Marwin Gonzalez has fired his agent at the Octagon Agency and is hiring Scott Boras to represent him.
I hear he makes good power tools.
This guy’s pitching is so cool. Would love to see him in the MLB [for the Blue Jays]