Changes Coming To The Japanese Posting System

Just in time for the Masahiro Tanaka posting sweepstakes comes an announcement that the Nippon Professional Baseball league and Major League Baseball are close to a new deal that would bring significant changes to the posting system. The new system is set to be fialized and in place before November 1st so the new changes will be implemented this season, just in time for Yankees fans.

Under the old rules teams would submit a silent bid and the team would choose which bid they wanted to accept, which was obviously always the highest. Now the player, and this is still speculation and what is being reported but not finalized, will be able to choose one team from the top two or three bidding teams to negotiate with exclusively. This now gives some of the power back to the player and also means that if the Yankees want Tanaka they only have to get in the top three to have a chance.

I think this is one of the few changes in the new systems we have seen lately that the Yankees and their brand, not to mention their cash, will give them the step up above other teams in the process. Hell you never know it may even save the Yankees a few bucks in the long run.