Posting system

The posting system refers to the baseball player transfer system currently in effect between Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball. The posting system was implemented to prevent Japanese teams from losing young star players to the Major Leagues without compensation.

History

The system was created as a reaction to Hideo Nomo's departure from the Kintetsu Buffaloes. In 1995, Nomo, who was not eligible for free agency, announced his retirement from Japanese baseball, and then signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The posting system only applies to players currently under contract with a Japanese team, it does not apply to free agents or to players with 10 years or more of service in the Japanese professional leagues.

How it works

When a player under contract with a Japanese team wishes to play in Major League Baseball, he requests that the team make him available for posting. If the team consents, the team informs the MLB Commissioner's office that one of its players is posted. The MLB Office of the Commissioner then holds a four-day-long silent auction among its teams. The highest resulting bid on the player is sent to the Japanese team, which may or may not choose to accept it. If the bid is accepted, the bid amount is publicly revealed and the winning Major League team is granted the exclusive rights to negotiate with the player. If the player and the Major League team come to terms on a contract within 30 days, the Japanese team receives the bid amount as the transfer fee. If the Major League team cannot come to an agreement with the posted player, then no fee is paid, and the player cannot play for the Major League club in the following season. In the following years, the player can request to be posted again, and the process is started over with no advantage to the club which had won the previous year. Negotiation rights come with an implicit obligation to bargain with the player in good faith; however, the penalty for bad faith bargaining is unclear.

Past postings

Past postings to Major League Baseball under the system include (in chronological order):

• Alejandro Quezada, outfielder ($400,001; from the Hiroshima Toyo Carp to the Cincinnati Reds; posted February 2, 1999)
• Ichiro Suzuki, outfielder ($13,125,000; from Orix Blue Wave to the Seattle Mariners; posted November 9, 2000)
• Kazuhisa Ishii, starting pitcher ($11,260,000; from the Yakult Swallows to the Los Angeles Dodgers; posted January 2, 2002)^[1]
• Ramón Ramírez, pitcher ($350,000; from the Hiroshima Toyo Carp to the New York Yankees; posted February 9, 2003)
• Akinori Otsuka, relief pitcher ($300,000; from the Chunichi Dragons to the San Diego Padres; posted November 11, 2003)^[2]
• Norihiro Nakamura, infielder (bid amount unknown; from the Kintetsu Buffaloes to the Los Angeles Dodgers; posted January 28, 2005)
• Shinji Mori relief pitcher ($750,000; from the Seibu Lions to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays; posted December 12, 2005)^[3]
• Daisuke Matsuzaka, starting pitcher ($51,111,111.11; from Seibu Lions to the Boston Red Sox; posted November 2, 2006)^[4][5]
• Akinori Iwamura, third baseman ($4,500,000; from Yakult Swallows to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays; posted November 6, 2006)^[6]
• Kei Igawa, starting pitcher ($26,000,194; from Hanshin Tigers to New York Yankees; posted November 17, 2006)^[7]

Unsuccessful postings

• Yusaku Iriki, relief pitcher (posted by Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters on November 22, 2005; released by the Fighters on December 5, 2005; signed by the New York Mets on January 18, 2006 to a one-year, $750,000 contract)
• Akinori Otsuka, relief pitcher (posted by Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes on December 18, 2002; signed with the Chunichi Dragons on March 20, 2003 for ¥95 million)
• Timo Perez, outfielder (posted by Hiroshima Toyo Carp on February 2, 1999; re-signed with the Carp on February 3, 1999 for ¥34.5 million)

Notes

See also

• Transfer in football/soccer