Japanese P/OF Shohei Otani has "chosen CAA Sports to represent him" in the U.S. while he entertains offers from MLB clubs this offseason, according to sources cited by Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. TIMES. L.A.-based Nez Balelo will be Otani's "lead agent." Before Otani can move, new regulations "governing the transfer of players from Japan" to the U.S. "will have to be agreed upon" by Nippon Professional Baseball, MLB and the MLBPA. The most recent agreement "expired last week." Balelo reps Brewers LF Ryan Braun, Orioles CF Adam Jones and free agent RF Andre Ethier, among others. He also has "experience working with Japanese players," including free agent RF Nori Aoki and Marlins P Junichi Tazawa (L.A. TIMES, 11/7). In N.Y., Ken Davidoff notes CAA represents a "plethora of well-known major leaguers," including Mets LF Yoenis Cespedes, Mets P Noah Syndergaard and Giants C Buster Posey. Otani is "likely to be grandfathered into the old system by which the winning MLB team will pay" his current NPB team $20M. The current CBA mandates that since Otani is under 25, he "can't make more than the maximum of his new team's international signing bonus pool, which likely won't be much higher" than $3M (N.Y. POST, 11/7).
