In an unusual move, a Dodgers vice president reportedly showed up in person to scout the Japan-vs-Taiwan game (at Taipei Dome) in the U-18 Asia Championship, where Yokohama High School right-hander Shoki Oda was pitching — and now 18 MLB teams have descended on Taiwan. Opinions in the thread were split over his outings, including the game against Chiben Wakayama, with reactions swinging wildly between praise for good starts and harsh criticism whenever he gave up runs. Alongside that, voices criticizing NPB’s low signing-bonus cap and lack of financial payback clashed with others worried about the risks of jumping straight to the majors out of high school.
Sports Hochi
September 13, 2026, 5:00 AM
◆14th U-18 Asia Championship ▽ Super Round: Japan 2–1 Taiwan (Sept. 12, Taipei Dome, Taiwan)
Source: hochi.news / Original article here
Though there sure aren't many Japanese major leaguers considering that.
Probably because it's far away.
Also, you can still make a living in NPB.
Especially popularity.
Signing a Japanese player doesn't automatically mean the money rolls in.
Though he'd start in the minors, so who knows how it'll actually turn out.
Good for clicks.
The signing bonus cap should be raised to ¥500 million,
and a ¥2 billion annual salary should be the norm.
The league's grown to roughly 2000s-MLB level,
but it never gives anything back to the players on the field.
No wonder it's come to this.
Especially the Hanshin Tigers.
Their revenue's about to hit ¥60 billion and their top salary is ¥500 million?
What kind of corrupt overlord operation is that (like something out of a samurai drama).
And they've got ¥12 billion in operating profit.
If he's got any MLB ambition at all, NPB doesn't stand a chance.
Stingy as hell.
Hoards the profits internally and gives nothing back to the players on the field.
If anything, more players jumping to the US might be exactly what it takes to fix that broken culture.
Same with soccer — given the country's economic size and the league's market size, player pay is way too low.
If that's the case, grabbing Imanaga from the Cubs was still the better move.
ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9pC3dgtAUk
The signing bonus cap should be ¥300 million. Guys like Ichiba and Nasuno got more than that back in the day anyway,
so it's not like it'd be some new problem now — except for one particular team.
Let him try the majors early, and the signing bonus and development costs are all on the MLB team's dime.
If he flames out, you can just scoop him up cheap later.
Makes sense historically — Japanese baseball started with high school ball at Koshien and college ball at Jingu Stadium. Pro teams didn't start running it as a business until much later.
One bad outing and everyone did a complete 180.
I think the Chiben Wakayama game was just fatigue — throwing a complete game right before it didn't help.
And remember, he took a line drive during the Kanagawa tournament and got hurt badly enough to need a wheelchair, 'just a bruise' or not. He'd barely pitched since, so of course he'd gas out when it counted.
Just yesterday he was getting trashed before the game, then after the game it was all 'that's Oda for you.'
Honestly, after being run out there like that, getting hit in the Chiben Wakayama game barely means anything.
But then they'd have to pay big money.
They hate that, so now they go scavenging before players even join NPB.
Yeah, seriously.
They've gotten a taste of that sweet Japan money and can't quit.
Komoda's already said he's NPB only.
The Dodgers didn't have a single Japanese player for years after Maeken (Kenta Maeda) left, and now suddenly there are three at once.
Though honestly, I'm kind of curious to see how far they can develop a guy in the majors without going through Japanese baseball first.
It's more skeptical curiosity than optimism — like, can he actually grow that way?
The 19-year-old Shotaro Morii went straight to the majors and is trying the two-way thing right now.
The way that's going so far, it just looks reckless to skip Japan entirely.
Well, if that's all it takes to flip on him, just let him go to America already.
Besides, high school players don't belong to NPB.
NPB hasn't lifted a finger to develop them — pretty shameless to act like they own him.
Background and Key Points of This Story
The player at the center of this ‘bidding war,’ Shoki Oda, is a right-handed pitcher from Yokohama High School, and thread sentiment about his pitching swung back and forth throughout the U-18 Asia Championship’s Japan-vs-Taiwan game, including his earlier start against Chiben Wakayama. Commenters were harshly critical before the game but flipped to praise once he pitched well — a classic case of 5ch’s volatile mood swings. Behind this is NPB’s draft system and its cap on signing bonuses: because high schoolers who go straight overseas fall outside that cap, MLB teams can approach them while they’re still in high school. Cases like Roki Sasaki and Shotaro Morii, who both jumped straight to the majors, came up repeatedly, with cautious voices warning that ‘going to the US too early is risky’ clashing against critics who argue it’s ‘only natural given how little NPB gives back to its players.’ One thing readers can easily misread: the VP’s scouting visit and the word ‘bidding war’ don’t mean a signing is already happening — as of this article, it’s still just an MLB team gathering information on and building a relationship with a high schooler.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Are the Dodgers Getting Serious About a ‘Bidding War’ for Yokohama’s 157 km/h Right-Hander Shoki Oda? VP Makes Rare Personal Visit to Scout U-18 Asia Championship as 18 MLB Teams Flock to Taiwan.”
