Posting System

From BR Bullpen

The Posting System is a player transfer system between the NPB and the MLB. It was created to allow teams to receive compensation for players who would like to play in the MLB before becoming a free agent and to avoid situations like those of Hideo Nomo or Alfonso Soriano, who had used loopholes in a prior NPB-MLB agreement to switch countries.

[edit] Process

A player may be posted from November 1 to March 1. For a player to be posted, both the team and player must agree on the posting; usually the player requests to be posted. The team then notifies the NPB Commissioner's Office that the player will be posted, who then notifies the MLB, which notifies all of its teams. The MLB teams then have four days to submit a "silent" bid for the right to negotiate a contract with the player to the MLB Commissioner's Office. After the fourth day, the NPB team (via the Commissioner's Office) is notified of the highest bidder and has four to accept or reject the bid. If the bid is accepted the winning MLB team has thirty (30) days to reach an agreement with the player. If the bid is rejected, the player is not posted.

If the player signs a contract with the MLB team by the end of the signing period, then the player becomes part of that MLB team and the NPB team receives the bid money. If the player does not sign a contract with the MLB team by the end of the signing period, the player is returned to the NPB team and the NPB team does not receive the bid money. Negotiation rights come with an implicit obligation to bargain with the player in good faith; however, the penalty for bad faith bargaining is unclear.

[edit] Posted Players

Posting Date	Player	NPB Team	MLB Team	Transfer Fee	Contract Agreement Date	Notes
February 2, 1999	Alejandro Quezada	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	Cincinnati Reds	$400,001	March 2, 1999	signed a minor league contract
February 2, 1999	Timo Perez	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	none			re-signed with the Carp on February 3 for 34.5 million yen
November 9, 2000	Ichiro Suzuki	Orix BlueWave	Seattle Mariners	$13,125,000	November 30, 2000	signed a 3-year, $14 million ($14,000,000) contract
January 3, 2002	Kazuhisa Ishii	Yakult Swallows	Los Angeles Dodgers	$11,260,000	February 2, 2002	signed a 4-year, $12.3 million ($12,300,000) contract
December 18, 2002	Akinori Otsuka	Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes	none			signed with the Dragons on March 20 for 95 million yen
February 6, 2003	Ramon Ramirez	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	New York Yankees	$300,050	March 9, 2003	signed a minor league contract
November 11, 2003	Akinori Otsuka	Chunichi Dragons	San Diego Padres	$300,000	December 10, 2003	signed a two-year, $1.8 million ($1,800,000) contract
January 28, 2005	Norihiro Nakamura	Orix Buffaloes	Los Angeles Dodgers	unknown	February 3, 2005	signed a minor league contract
November 22, 2005	Yusaku Iriki	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	none			released by Fighters on December 5, 2005; signed by the New York Mets on January 18, 2006 to a one-year, $750,000 contract
December 12, 2005	Shinji Mori	Seibu Lions	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	$1,000,000	unknown	signed a two year, $1.3 million ($1,300,000) contract
November 2, 2006	Daisuke Matsuzaka	Seibu Lions	Boston Red Sox	$51,111,111.11	December 13, 2006	signed a six-year, $52 million ($52,000,000) contract
November 6, 2006	Akinori Iwamura	Yakult Swallows	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	$4,500,000	December 15, 2006	signed a three-year, $7.7 million ($7,700,000) contract
November 17, 2006	Kei Igawa	Hanshin Tigers	New York Yankees	$26,000,194	December 28, 2006	signed a five-year, $20 million ($20,000,000) contract