Roki Aims for the Majors But When Will 28-Year-Old Kazuma Okamoto Cross the Ocean

Akinori Sasaki, 23, will try out for the Major Leagues through the posting system from the professional baseball team Lotte.

On November 17, he participated in a fan appreciation day and expressed his gratitude to the baseball team and fans, then expressed his determination, “I will do my best in the U.S. by turning all the passionate support and severe encouragement I have received so far into strength.

I’ll turn all the warm support and hard encouragement I’ve received so far into strength and do my best in the U.S.,” he said, adding, “Since I was the last of the 12 teams to renew my contract this year, and since I left the Japan Professional Baseball Players’ Association, many people must have sensed that I would probably cross the ocean after this season.

Many of the players and managers I talked to shook their heads at the idea of leaving the players’ association. Some said, “It means he has no interest in professional baseball in Japan,” and “Maybe he got tired of all kinds of troubles.

Sasaki has not obtained FA rights, including overseas FA rights. In order to pitch in the major leagues, Lotte would have to approve his posting transfer.

Since Sasaki is under 25 years old and in his fifth year of professional baseball, he is subject to the “25-year old rule,” which limits the amount of his contract and annual salary, and the transfer fee paid to Lotte would be a drop in the bucket. The transfer fee paid to Lotte was a mere drop in the bucket, and there was no way that Lotte would approve it.

In the end, the team folded. There is a strong rumor that there was a ‘secret agreement’ about challenging for the Majors at the time of the draft. He is an asset that they can’t let go if they are thinking about next season.

There are several U.S.-capitalized companies gathered around Hiroki, and it is said that efforts were being made to bring him in, including those involved with him. If we could get Hiroki to cross the ocean, business opportunities for such companies would expand at a dash.

For the baseball team, it was as if the outer moat was rapidly being filled in like the winter and summer battles in Osaka.

Meanwhile, the Giants’ Kazuma Okamoto (28) is looking at Sasaki with envy.

On Major League Baseball’s official website, Okamoto was recently picked up as one of the players, along with Tomoyuki Sugano (35) and others, who could potentially move to the majors this offseason.

Okamoto is a player with very strong Major League aspirations. In fact, since the beginning of this season, he has had an agent on his side and has been preparing for a possible move to the Majors.

He does not have overseas FA rights, and in order to go to the Majors, the team must approve posting. However, the Giants consider posting as a “forbidden move,” and the hurdle for approval is much higher than for other teams. Furthermore, it is certain that Sugano will leave this offseason after exercising his overseas FA rights. It is not realistic to expect both pillars of pitching and hitting to leave. Given these circumstances, I have heard that he is upset. I hear that he is upset about it.

In a sense, the Giants made the right decision to win.

In a sense, the Giants made a sound decision to win. “For Okamoto himself, although he understands the team’s situation, he is probably thinking, ‘Why is Akinori going to the team when there is almost no money to be transferred to the team?

Okamoto’s expected acquisition of overseas FA rights is in the offseason of ’26. If the team approves posting, of course there is a chance next season. ……

It is believed that Yakult infielder Munetaka Murakami (24) will be eligible for posting next offseason after clearing the “25-year old rule.

Okamoto is surely concerned about Murakami because of the positional overlap between the two teams. This offseason, the Giants have been active in the FA market, and it is said that their large offer for Hanshin’s Yusuke Oyama may be a move based on Okamoto’s exodus to the majors next offseason. However, Francis Romero, a reporter who belongs to the Baseball Writers Association of America and has scooped a number of transfer reports, predicts that Okamoto “will probably have to wait until ’26” to reach the majors.

It is natural for a top athlete to want to try out at a higher level. It is also their season as athletes. The challenge for Okamoto will be how to maintain his motivation.