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2025 NPB Active Player Draft Concludes

Yuri Karasawa | Dec 9th, 2025 4:30pm EST

The 2025 Nippon Professional Baseball Active Player Draft was held on Tuesday night, giving underutilized players new opportunities.

The Active Player Draft was created in 2022 to effectively become Japan’s version of Major League Baseball’s Rule 5 Draft. After each season, each team must list at least two players, who remain confidential, to be eligible for the draft. The majority of listed players have limited NPB experience, but have shown promise in either limited playing time or the farm system. Foreign players, high-salary players, those eligible for free agency, and others who do not meet the specific criteria are not eligible for the process.

The draft itself is not open to the public, and the results are revealed only at the conclusion of the event. In the first round, each of the 12 teams nominates one player they would like to acquire. The team with the most nominations receives the first pick, and ties are settled using the amateur draft’s waiver order. That team then selects the player it nominated, and the next pick goes to the team that lost that player. This process continues until all 12 teams have made one pick. Teams cannot choose a player who has already been taken or anyone from a club that has already been involved in a pick. If a team’s initial nomination becomes invalid, it must select another eligible player.

The second round is optional. Teams can join to make a pick or simply to allow one of their players to be poached. Starting in 2025, teams may also submit ranked lists of players they want, indicating whether they want each player unconditionally or only if their roster size remains unchanged. If multiple clubs target the same player, unconditional requests take priority, and any remaining ties are broken in reverse order of the first round. In the days following the draft, NPB announces all the transfers as official trades.

The system has already produced several success stories, including Seiya Hosokawa, who went from being stuck in an outfield logjam with the DeNA BayStars to becoming a perennial 20-plus-homer All-Star for the Chunichi Dragons, and Shun Mizutani, who was never promoted to the top team with the SoftBank Hawks but has since emerged as a national-team-caliber player with the rival Nippon-Ham Fighters.

Several notable players changed teams in this year’s draft. Hanshin Tigers outfielder Kouta Inoue, once a highly regarded prospect with a profile reminiscent of the aforementioned Hosokawa, was selected by the Lotte Marines. He’s struggled mightily at the NPB level, slashing just .189/.225/.340 across 111 plate appearances, but has flashed real power in the minors with 56 career home runs, albeit with a strikeout rate around 30%.

The Rakuten Eagles picked former SoftBank Hawks first-rounder Naoki Satoh, who appeared in 104 NPB games this past season with a solid .700 OPS. However, his recent involvement in a domestic violence scandal, combined with SoftBank’s considerable outfield depth, likely contributed to his availability in the draft.

The DeNA BayStars and Chunichi Dragons effectively swapped players, with utilityman Naoto Chino heading to Nagoya and outfielder Shonosuke Hama moving to Yokohama. Chino has consistently posted exceptional walk rates and offers defensive versatility, having played every position except pitcher, catcher, and right field as a pro. Hama, meanwhile, was one of the top performers in the minors in 2025, maintaining a .348 on-base percentage, stealing 15 bases, and rating well across all three outfield spots.

Another swap took place between the Nippon-Ham Fighters and Yomiuri Giants, with each club selecting a reliever from the other’s roster. The Giants grabbed 22-year-old lefty Keito Matsuura, who stagnated in 2025 but was outstanding on the farm the year prior, posting a 29.6% strikeout rate. The Fighters selected 26-year-old righty Taiki Kikuchi, who made 50 appearances for the Giants’ top team as recently as 2023 and excelled on the farm in 2025 with a 1.98 ERA and 26.6% strikeout rate.

Yakult Swallows outfielder Taiki Hamada is one of the more seasoned players to be selected, heading to the Hanshin Tigers with 18 career homers since 2020 under his belt. Tokumasa Chano, transferring from the Orix Buffaloes to the Seibu Lions, impressed on the farm with a sub-10% strikeout rate and 28 swipes across 116 games.

Full first round results:

LHP Keito Matsuura (Age 22)

Former Team: Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

New Team: Yomiuri Giants

RHP Haruki Ohmichi (26)

Former Team: Hiroshima Toyo Carp

New Team: Tokyo Yakult Swallows

OF Shonosuke Hama (25)

Former Team: Chunichi Dragons

New Team: Yokohama DeNA BayStars

UTL Naoto Chino (26)

Former Team: Yokohama DeNA BayStars