Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto Inspire Exciting NPB Trend, as Japanese Stars Dominate Free Agency

Bringing in talent from the Land of the Rising Sun is nothing new for MLB, but the growth and fame involved in those acquisitions have certainly increased a lot in the last few decades. However, it was not until two legendary players entered MLB free agency this season that Japan started to dream big of fishing for huge contracts and massive teams for their future baseballers. The players in question are none other than Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Shohei Ohtani spread waves of disbelief across the sports world of America after the yakyu shonen clinched the biggest sports deal in history—one worth $700 million—in this year’s free agency market. Yamamoto followed shortly after, with his offer reaching a lofty value of $325 million. Rarely has anyone witnessed a major league rookie score such a big deal as his first offer. Both players were drafted by the Dodgers, signaling the outset of Japanese success in MLB.

The Shohei Ohtani-Yoshinobu Yamamoto effect

The recent Twitter (aka X) post of Japan’s baseball periodical, the Yakyu Cosmopolitan, says, “It’s become commonplace to see a couple of NPB players go to MLB each year but there’s more players publicly announcing their aspirations now than ever before.”

What started with Masanori Murakami’s spontaneous addition to the Giants’ clubhouse back in 1964 soon became a leeway for teams to look for talents further east in the Nippon Professional Baseball League.

The Shohei Ohtani-Yoshinobu Yamamoto incident made a smooth way for major contracts for future free agents, setting a never-seen-before standard for the ones migrating from NPB, in particular. Before this season, rarely has a player from the Sakura kingdom ever been able to dream about securing such dazzling success in the U.S. major league.

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Yes, it is unwise to deduce that all of them will have a similar set of skills as Yamamoto or Ohtani do. But if one doesn’t dream big, there is no way they’ll be able to accomplish it, right? Ohtani himself would possibly never have dreamt of being $300 million short of becoming a billionaire within a decade and a half of his entrance into MLB.

That didn’t stop him from showing off his inconceivable power of wielding 100-mph fastballs like it’s child’s play while simultaneously hitting them with a dynamic that can only be termed godlike. Yamamoto doesn’t fall too far away either. The 25-year-old was already famous for his 95-mph throws before he even thought about stepping foot in the U.S.

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As more players keep making their way into MLB one after another, the preceding champions of NPB, like Hideo Nomo or Ichiro Suzuki, must feel proud. Being able to finally witness decades’ worth of Japanese dreams coming true must feel better than spectacular, shouldn’t it?