New Player Transfer System Between Nippon Professional Baseball, MLB Nearly Complete

Nippon Professional Baseball "is hoping to strike an agreement" on a new posting system for player transfers with Major League Baseball by Thursday, according to KYODO. NPB Legal Department Head Nobuhisa Ito said that an NPB delegation "will travel stateside on Tuesday to iron out the details on a new bidding system for Japanese players who have yet to reach free agency." MLB "withdrew its proposal earlier this month, arguing that the Japanese side had taken too long to act." The proposal had set the winning fee "at a figure in between the two highest bids, and if a team failed to sign the Japanese player it would be fined." A new bidding system "must be agreed" if Rakuten Eagles' ace pitcher Masahiro Tanaka "is to play in the majors next season" (KYODO, 11/25).