Tag Archives: Scott Boras

Boras on NPB signing U.S. amateurs

This is a transcript of the chat with Scott Boras at the 2018 winter meetings in Las Vegas, when the nature of MLB’s signing bonus pools was screaming for a market correction from a strong rival league — enter NPB, and the SoftBank Hawks. Note the remarkable transformation that has come over Boras’ stance on the possibility of a U.S. amateur entering MLB as an international free agent since December.

–With the CBA and penny-pinching by MLB, is Japan an option? Have you talked to Japanese teams about amateurs?

“We have a number of players with Japanese teams. Of course, they’re limited to four per roster, so that part makes it a little bit more resigned as to what they do with prominent…”

“They have scouting teams and they are involved, but you would like to see it greater involved than what it is. We have had some very positive impacts. Japanese baseball is an extraordinary brand of baseball. It’s really good. It’s got good audiences. A number of those teams draw 2-1/2 million people.”

–I ask that because of the signing bonus pools depressing the prices for amateurs, there are so many…

“…No. I think it’s very wise for Japanese teams to take a look at that and take advantage of it. I think they should.”

–Have you got a response from Japanese teams about amateurs?

“I think it’s something that if they look at it and see the kind of value in that kind of player, you can go forward.”

–The NPB teams have been telling me about two-year deals so a player could re-enter the MLB draft or a five-year deal so he can enter MLB as a free agent.

“One of the real problems with signing with a Japanese team is that when a player leaves Japan, he comes back here, he’s still subject to the draft.”

–Even if he’s a six-year pro?

“If you’re in Japan and you’ve never signed here (in the States), then you’re still subject to the draft. That rule kind of restricts that.”

Scott Boras on the subject of amateurs signing in Japan. Dec. 13, 2018

6 things to know about NPB

With 19-year-old prospect Carter Stewart reportedly days away from signing with the SoftBank Hawks of Japan’s Pacific League, here are six things you might want to know:

This is MLB’s doing

By assigning maximum dollar amounts to draft picks in its amateur draft, MLB further reduced the rights amateurs have to sell their talent for a fair value. The draft already hampers this, by forcing amateurs to negotiate with only one team. But the signing bonus pools, introduced in 2012, and the decrepit status of minor league baseball, has now made Japan a viable alternative for the right candidate.

Nippon Professional Baseball teams, like those in the majors, are limited to how much they can pay amateurs acquired through the draft process, and these limits are much lower. While players used to receive millions of dollars under the table, those days appear to be over and the maximums of a 100 million yen ($905,000) signing bonus and 15 million yen ($136,000) first-year salary.

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