Major League Baseball teams have looked to Japan to help build their teams for years. But how does the NPB posting system of adding players from Japan work? How come some players come over when they are young, like Shohei Ohtani, while others wait until they are older?
The posting system is the most common way for players to transition from Nippon Professional Baseball to MLB. Unless a player has played for nine seasons in NPB, they must request to be posted by their club.
When a player is posted, they have a 45-day window to negotiate a contract with teams. If an agreement is reached, the MLB club will pay a fee to the NPB club. These rules determine the release fee according to the MLB website:
For Major League contracts with a total guaranteed value of $25 million or less, the release fee will be 20 percent of the total guaranteed value of the contract.
• For Major League contracts with a total guaranteed value between $25,000,001 and $50 million, the release fee will be 20 percent of the first $25 million plus 17.5 percent of the total guaranteed value exceeding $25 million.
For Major League contracts with a total guaranteed value of $50,000,001 or more, the release fee will be 20 percent of the first $25 million plus 17.5 percent of the next $25 million plus 15 percent of the total guaranteed value exceeding $50 million.
• For all Minor League contracts, the release fee will be 25 percent of the signing bonus. For Minor League contracts that contain Major League terms, a supplemental fee will be owed if the player is added to the 25-man roster.
If a posted player signs a Major League contract that contains bonuses, salary escalators, or options, a Japanese team may receive a supplemental fee equal to 15 percent of any bonus or salary escalators actually earned by the player and/or 15 percent of any option that is exercised.
However, if a player is under the age of 25 and has played less than six seasons in a foreign international league recognized by MLB, they must still be posted but can only be paid through the International bonus pool. The prize of the posting system this offseason is Japanese phenom Rōki Sasaki. Sasaki is a foreign professional under the age of 24, so he can only be paid by a team through their international bonus pool allotment.
