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The story
SoftBank Hawks CBO Kenji Jojima has reportedly suggested the team might still draft Yokohama High pitcher Shoki Oda, even though Oda has declared his intention to pursue a path to a U.S. college instead of entering the NPB draft. SoftBank made headlines last year for doing exactly this with Rintaro Sasaki, drafting him first overall despite his publicly stated MLB ambitions, and fans are now watching to see whether a similar “forced pick” is coming. On 5ch, opinions split along several lines: the risk of burning a first-round pick for a second straight year, questions about MLB scouts reportedly contacting Oda after he filed his pro draft declaration, and what a forced pick would do to the team’s public image.
“We’re thinking about it right now” — SoftBank CBO Kenji Jojima hints at possibly drafting Shoki Oda despite his MLB declaration; last year it was Rintaro Sasaki [NPB Draft Meeting]
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Not using the first pick for a gag is the rare case these days, so maybe it's fine?
If it works out it's basically landing him outright,
and Oda's a SoftBank fan in particular, so there's a decent chance he'd actually sign even after a forced pick
So does that mean it's already a done deal behind the scenes?
he follows Shinjo and several other team people.
Hm?
So it's either the Hawks or the States, huh
and spin some line like, 'I just couldn't picture a future where Oda wasn't in NPB — I couldn't give up even a 0.1% chance.'
True,
just take a flier on a late-round pick and dangle something like a 300 million yen signing bonus on the off chance he actually signs
Do that and they'd get absolutely roasted for it —
pro baseball exists as promotion for the parent company, so if it backfires into bad press there's no point
they're going to keep reverse-importing talent back from the majors anyway
SoftBank basically running without a real first-rounder is already the norm, this comes up every year
it'd look like deliberate sabotage
Sabotage how?
Even if he gets drafted he can just turn it down and go to MLB anyway, right?
He doesn't even have to meet with them
He's nowhere near Ohtani's level
He's good at self-promotion, at least
I'm a total novice, I have no idea who the candidates are
Pre-draft buzz says Komoda and Watanabe
though in practice I think there's a good chance teams collide trying to lock down a single-target pick
Developmental Draft, 18th Round Pick, Fukuoka SoftBank, Shoki Oda, Yokohama High
(note: NPB's draft doesn't even go to 18 rounds — the joke is picking him absurdly low) people would go nuts
In America teams do that gag where they draft the owner's or a sponsor's kid in the late rounds — I wish Japan would do that too
Won't Arai just draft his own son?
it kills the narrative of 'he only chose MLB because NPB never gave him a pick' (which would be a total lie)
He filed the declaration from the start just to hear out NPB offers, but he's said outright he's going straight to MLB (college route included)
To begin with, MLB scouts aren't supposed to make contact before the day after the pro draft declaration is filed
and Oda's case clearly blows right through that rule
NPB bans contact with players who haven't filed a declaration, but what rule is MLB even bound by here?
MLB's overseas scouts are supposed to follow the same local scouting rules as everyone else
Huh, is that so
Funny, because they're clearly fine contacting the candidate's family too
Without filing it he can't even hear NPB's offers
Even going straight to the majors requires filing the declaration first
the whole system is baffling
I mean, is that actually a problem?
It just comes down to whichever team is willing to eat the risk of wasting a pick on a rejection
I mean, given how insanely deep SoftBank's roster already is, wouldn't he be better off with another team drafting him anyway?
They've basically been throwing it away for years already
Background and Key Points of the Debate
The pro draft declaration is a procedure that lets a high school player remain eligible to be drafted by an NPB team while also keeping open the option of signing directly with an overseas club — filing it does not, by itself, block a player from pursuing a path abroad. SoftBank did the same thing last year with Rintaro Sasaki, who had also declared his intention to go to the U.S., drafting him first overall even though it ultimately didn’t lead to him signing, and the same setup is expected to play out again with Oda. In the thread, optimists see a forced pick as a shot at locking him down outright, while critics call it a waste of a top draft slot and disrespectful to other draft candidates — the two camps never really converge. There was also debate over whether it’s appropriate for MLB scouts to contact a player before he files his declaration, but no official ruling on the exact rules or whether any violation occurred was presented, and the thread never reached a conclusion on that either.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nanuo Jikkyo G) thread “[Bad News] Possibility of Hawks Drafting Oda wwwwwww.”
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