Talks between Yokohama High pitcher Sho Oda and major league clubs began on November 4. Oda wants to play in the United States, but the Yomiuri Giants have also taken him with the first pick of Japan's draft.
According to reports, 12 major league clubs have come forward as possible destinations, among them the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets and Padres. Oda is reported to have already visited major league games and US universities.
The Giants' pick is unlikely to move him. The club is now managed by Hideki Matsui, who starred in Japan and in the majors, and Oda's intention has not wavered.
Longer meetings than with Japanese clubs
Under major league rules, Oda cannot sign until January 16, 2027, Japan time. Sports Nippon reported that his meetings with all 12 Japanese clubs before the draft ran about 30 minutes each, while the major league meetings were set at one to one and a half hours. He would start on a minor league contract in the US, so the longer sessions are seen as a chance to weigh each club's development plan.
Two earlier cases show how such choices have gone. Yusei Kikuchi, then at Hanamaki Higashi High in Iwate, met 20 Japanese and US clubs before the 2009 draft and gave up on going straight to the majors just before it. Six clubs competed for him, he joined the Seibu Lions, and he moved to the majors in 2019. He now pitches for the Angels.
Shohei Ohtani, also of Hanamaki Higashi, declared he wanted to go straight to the majors and met the Dodgers and others before the 2012 draft. The Nippon Ham Fighters took him first overall anyway, and he signed after the club offered him the two-way role. He played five seasons in Japan before moving to the majors and now plays for the Dodgers.
Others have gone sooner. Shotaro Morii of Tokyo's Toho High signed a minor league deal with the Athletics in 2025. Rintaro Sasaki went from Hanamaki Higashi to Stanford and signed with the Marlins after they drafted him in 2026. SoftBank held his negotiating rights from the fall 2025 draft but lost out to Miami.
A junior high pick in the development slot
The Giants' draft also included a move in the other direction. The club used a development-slot pick on a third-year junior high school student, a player it will raise itself rather than through high school baseball.
Taken together, the two moves pull at both ends of the same structure. Top high schoolers can now consider going straight to the majors, while a pro club can reach down past high school to sign a 15-year-old. The development pyramid that has long fed Japanese professional baseball may be changing.