Japanese high school baseball phenom Rintaro Sasaki signed a National Letter of Intent to play at Stanford, the team announced via social media on Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Sasaki, 6 feet tall and 250 pounds, was projected to be the top pick in the NPB draft before he made his decision to forgo it, according to multiple reports.
- The 17-year-old hit a Japanese high school record of 140 home runs.
- Sasaki played first base at Hanamaki-Higashi High, where his father Hiroshi Sasaki coaches. MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani attended the same high school and was also coached by the elder Sasaki.
The top-ranked high school baseball player in Japan has signed a National Letter of Intent to play at Stanford ✍️
🗞️ » https://t.co/aFnBmBEtW6#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/nzFTPfWo6F
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) February 14, 2024
Sasaki’s potential path to MLB
Sasaki’s decision is relatively unprecedented. Last year, Rikuu Nishida was selected in the 11th round of the MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox. Nishida was born and raised in Japan but elected to play his collegiate ball in the U.S., first suiting up for two seasons at Mt. Hood (Ore.) Community College before spending his junior season at Oregon. Nishida wasn’t nearly as high-profile a prospect in Japan as Sasaki, however.
Sasaki’s path to the major leagues could be expedited by playing in the U.S. He could be eligible for the MLB Draft as early as 2027. Had he been drafted in the NPB, he would have to receive permission from his Japanese club to be “posted,” a system that allows NPB players to be signed by MLB teams. Players need at least nine years of service time in the NPB before they can freely sign with MLB teams.
Sasaki could have also elected to try to sign with an MLB team as an amateur free agent, but his bonus would have been limited by the international bonus pool caps that each MLB team is bound by. Traditionally, MLB organizations have refrained from scouting and signing Japanese amateur players in deference to their relationship with the NPB.
Now that Sasaki plans to play college baseball at Stanford, he would be MLB Draft-eligible in three years, which wouldn’t grant him free agency, of course, but would give him a quicker entry to the MLB system and potentially a higher signing bonus than one he would have received as an amateur free agent, assuming he goes in the top two rounds. — Melissa Lockard, MLB editor
(Photo: Jasen Vinlove / USA Today)
