We heard back in September that some big changes could be coming to the Japanese player posting system. Some details on those changes are beginning to emerge.
While early word indicated that the player would get more control in the process, potentially deciding among the top three bids, that apparently won’t be the case here. In fact, the changes are rather small.
To clarify on Japanese posting, the top bidding team wins exclusive negotiating rights, but has to pay only the average of the top 2 bids.
— Ken Davidoff (@KenDavidoff) November 11, 2013
So it's a good deal for #MLB. They protect themselves against one team going rogue & bidding an insane number.
— Ken Davidoff (@KenDavidoff) November 11, 2013
I’m not so sure things will work out that way. If anything, teams may be more inclined to bid higher than they usually would if they believe that they’ll only have to pay an average of the top two bids. Nothing is official yet, so we’ll have to wait on an announcement from MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball.
We should see the new posting system in action soon with the much-hyped Masahiro Tanaka expected to be made available. Bidding figures to top the $51.7 million figure the Rangers paid for exclusive negotiating rights with Yu Darvish two offseasons ago while the Yankees, Dodgers, and Cubs are among the teams expected to be in the mix.
UPDATE: It looks like other changes are coming. Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times cites reports in Japan that teams that win the bidding on a player and fail to sign him will be fined.
