Can Twins pull it off!

[Lee Borgersen]

Shohei Otani posted by Nippon Ham Fighters, will move to MLB

   Japan’s Babe Ruth is inching closer to taking his talents to America.

Shohei Otani, a two-way baseball star who the Yankees have scouted heavily, will be posted by the Nippon-Ham Fighters this offseason, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Otani, 23, is a pitcher with devastating stuff and at the plate is a monstrous power hitter.

In five seasons with Nippon, Otani slashed .286/.358/.500 and posted an ERA of 2.52 with a 100 MPH fastball, according to CBS Sports.

The bidding for Otani among MLB teams will be unique.

League rules state once Otani is formally posted, teams will have just four days to bid on him using their international signing bonus pool.

  ...
By coming to MLB now, the max amount of money Otani will be able to get is $10.1 million, according to Yahoo Sports. If Otani were to wait until he was 25 to make the jump, he would be treated as a true free agent. But because he is so young, his salary will be capped.

  ....
Due to this rule, basically every team in the league is restricted from outbidding other teams, so it will be a rare case where money won't be the sole factor in a free agent signing with a team.

However, whatever team Otani picks will be able to offer Otani a signing bonus.

The Texas Rangers can offer the biggest bonus at $3.535 million, followed by the Yankees ($3.25 million) and Twins $3.245 , according to the Associated Press.


Photo by Masterpress/Getty Images TOKYO, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 12: Shohei Ohtani #16 of Japan celebrates after hitting a solo homer in the fifth inning during the international friendly match between Japan and Netherlands at the Tokyo Dome

                     


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[Steve-o]

Hmmm...

Shohei Otani is the biggest thing to hit Japanese baseball in a long time.
He can go to America and play for the Rangers, the Twins, or the Yankees and they can all pay him the same amount of money.

Let's see...

Masahiro Tanaka pitches well for the Yankees now.
Hiroki Kuroda had a successful pitching stint with for the Yankees.
Ichiro Suzuki - most famous Japanese player of all time - played mostly for Seattle, but finished his career with the Yankees.
Hideki Matsui - anohter all time great Japanaese player - was a very productive player for the Yankees.

Shin-Soo Choo - a Korean - is doing very well for the Rangers.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka - failed miserably in the Twins organization.
Byung-ho Park - another Korean - has not been able to reach his potential in the organization and projects to be relegated to the minor leagues again.

God bless Falvey and Levine if they can pull that one off and he performs well for the team.