Major League Baseball owners voted Friday to ratify a new posting system, paving the way for Shohei Otani to leave Japan and sign with an MLB team for the 2018 season.
As a result of Friday's approval via conference call, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball have received the go-ahead to post Ohtani, with a release fee of $20 million. The window for Ohtani to negotiate with big-league clubs will expire at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 22.
In addition, right-handed pitcher Kazuhisa Makita of the Saitama Seibu Lions will be posted on or before Dec.