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Shohei Otani Reportedly to Be Posted, Become MLB Free Agent This Offseason

Japanese baseball star Shohei Otani will reportedly play Major League Baseball next season.

On Tuesday, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports cited multiple Japanese reports and noted Otani—who is both a pitcher and an outfielder—will be posted during the upcoming offseason and free to sign with MLB teams.

Passan delved into the timing and process with the 23-year-old and noted Otani "is giving up literally hundreds of millions of dollars" by coming to the United States at the reported time. He explained the maximum Otani can receive is $10.1 million because "MLB rules keep teams from treating international players under 25 as true free agents.