While Shohei Otani doesn’t yet have a clear path to Major League Baseball, he’ll be prepared with representation when that step presumably occurs.
Otani has hired CAA, a source confirmed, to steer him through the process of transitioning from the Nippon-Ham Fighters to MLB. The Los Angeles Times first reported that Nez Balelo of CAA will be the lead agent. CAA represents a plethora of well-known major leaguers, including the Mets’ Yoenis Cespedes, Jacob de Grom and Noah Syndergaard and the Giants’ Buster Posey.
As The Post’s Joel Sherman first reported last week, Nippon Professional Baseball, the MLB Players Association and MLB must sign off on a posting agreement before the Fighters can post Otani.