Shohei Otani - P

[chriscvc]

I would think regular since he's 19.  Maybe from now on we should put J2 in the thread titles for J2 free agents, clear up any confusion.

Jen-Ho Tseng is also 19 but he was a J2 signing, so what's the difference?
Based on this thread any player above 16 is allowed to be signed? can we sign HS in america or only Internationals? is this for only asian players in the official leagues? there's a lot of loopholes here.

[chrisetc21]

Jen-Ho Tseng is also 19 but he was a J2 signing, so what's the difference?
Based on this thread any player above 16 is allowed to be signed? can we sign HS in america or only Internationals? is this for only asian players in the official leagues? there's a lot of loopholes here.

Not sure, I haven't managed the J2 signings.  Obviously some confusion going on between what players are MLB J2 eligible and what our rules may be.  It doesn't seem to be spelled out very well in the rules now that I look at it.  Probably something that needs to be discussed some. 

Any international player above 16 that is not subject to the MLB draft is allowed to be signed.  Players in the US are subject to the draft. 

[Jss0062]

Technically speaking since he is a Japanese player he is under control of his Japanese team for 9 seasons.  This makes him unable to sign with any other team until he is posted which likely will not happen for another 5-6 years.  He is neither a regular free agent nor an international free agent which makes him ineligible to sign right now.

[chrisetc21]

Kenta Maeda signed in our league.  Lots of Cuban players signed in here before MLB teams signed them.  Some are signed in here that are still not signed with mlb.

It was my understanding that anyone over 16 as of July 1st, 2013 (since the J2 money was combined for 2013 and 2014) that has not been signed yet is a regular free agent no matter what country they're from. 

[Jss0062]

Maeda was signed when there were lots of reports of him being posted. I don't believe he should have been signed.  The Cubans are a different and complex group of players. As far as I know no Cuvans were signed without being eligible to sign with a MLB team.

Most importantly the goal of this league is to replicate MLB as closely as possible. Signing a player not eligible to sign with an MLB team for multiple years doesn't fit with that.

You, I and Sean can discuss it further as the executive committee and make him available if we decide otherwise.