Buckle up, Yankees fans. The Shohei Otani sweepstakes is coming this winter.
According to reports out of Japan, Otani is really doing what seemed unthinkable for a two-way player of this caliber: Planning to jump to the majors this winter at the age of 23--two years before true unrestricted free agency could have netted the pitcher/slugger a deal close to $300M.
Instead, Otani will now be considered just like any other young international free agent: Subject to early bonus pools each franchise has to spend, capped out of the running for others, tethered to a minor-league contract that can be purchased by a big league team and three years away from the arbitration system.