The two-league Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) is one of the most popular baseball competitions in Asia. Brimming with top-tier baseball players from Japan and other parts of the world, it’s avidly watched by millions of spectators across the continent. NPB is also considered the second-best baseball league in the world, behind the American Major League Baseball (MLB).
What’s more, you’ll often see live NPB matches on cable TV in different countries worldwide, which might come as a surprise for people who mainly follow the MLB leagues.
However, prominent Japanese baseball players often decide to go one step up and head to the MLB – the best professional baseball competition in the US and, most probably, worldwide.
It’s mainly for commercial reasons and the higher level of competition that players are driven to make such a move. No matter how well-paid players are in the NPB, playing in the MLB is a whole new (ahem) ball game.
In addition to the MLB clubs and individual Japanese players, some other areas of the economy also gain certain advantages from these baseball transfers, from manufacturers of sports apparel who can sell more and more jerseys and other merch, to the many betting sites accepting Japanese users, who see an increased number of bets placed as players move to the bigger leagues. Of course, MLB is widely bet on across the US too, which further helps boost their revenue.
What’s more, MLB matches have been broadcast on Apple TV+ since 2022, in addition to the games we can watch on cable TV in the US and worldwide. All these advantages attract baseball players from Latin America and Asia to sign for MLB clubs and the chance to be seen as the real deal.
For instance, when Shohei Ohtani, aka Shotime, moved to LA in 2018, he must have known that his popularity and earnings would grow. This pitcher and designated hitter played for the Los Angeles Angels from 2018 until the end of the 2023 season, when he became a free agent. Shotime is one of the most successful Japan-born baseballers of all time in the MLB, and the only Japanese player who has won the league home-run trophy. Once he proved his value in Japan, he went to a more competitive place. In 2023, he signed a contract for 10 years and $700 million, the largest contract in sports history.
One of the most prominent rookies in the MLB this year is Masataka Yoshida, an outfielder who used to play for Orix Buffaloes in NPB. This season he left Japan for Massachusetts and is now a member of the Boston Red Sox. His popularity and the number of sold jerseys have grown both in Japan and in the US. What’s more, his statistics up to now are also not bad for a rookie year.
Some new young lions are planning to move toward the US, such the Yomiuri Giants’ Kazuma Okamoto. He is currently the leading hitter of the NPB league, with 41 homeruns hit in the ongoing season. Praised for his athleticism and stamina, he has attracted the interest of MLB scouts and coaches. For the time being, rumor has it that Okamoto is open to moving to the US but must wait until the end of the 2024 season to negotiate his post from the Giants, unless someone comes with an offer big enough to satisfy all the interested parties.
Yuki Matsui, the best reliever in the NPB leagues and a member of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, has also been open to offers from MLB clubs for some time. He is expected to join one of them soon, further opening the door for other newbies to move from NPB to MLB.