While Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball appear to be closing in on an agreement on a new posting system, the new rules may lead to Masahiro Tanaka not being posted this winter.
The two leagues have reportedly agreed on a new posting system that would cap the posting fees at $20 million. Under the agreement, the Japanese team would set the bid price for the player, up to $20 million, and any Major League club that meets the bid would have negotiating rights with the player.
Yozo Tachibana, the president of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, told a Japanese newspaper on Thursday the team might not make Masahiro Tanaka available to Major League teams this winter. In other words, they may not post him.
According to a report from Jerry Crasnick, Tachibana told the newspaper,, “We have an obligation to explain to our stakeholders whether it’s fair [the new posting system].” Tachibana added that if the stakeholders “do not think the proposed rules” are fair then there would be a possibility that Tanaka would not be posted.
The Golden Eagles were the only one of the 12 Japanese teams that did not agree with and approve the new posting system.
MLB, the MLB player’s association and the NPB are looking for a resolution soon with the new posting system and for the Eagles to decide whether or not to post Masahiro Tanaka.
Baseball America’s Ben Badler reported on Thursday that his sources have indicated Tanaka will be posted this winter.
Follow ChicagoCubsOnline on Twitter: @TheCCO and @TheCCO_Minors
[amazonjs asin=”B003S1UNZU” locale=”US” tmpl=”Small” title=”Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns (Includes The Tenth Inning)”]