ORLANDO, FLA.—Major League Baseball hopes to reach a new agreement on a posting system with Japan by early December, a deal that would allow star pitcher-outfielder Shohei Otani to start negotiations with big league teams. Dan Halem, MLB’s chief legal officer Dan Halem said Wednesday a new framework has been agreed to with Nippon Professional Baseball and that a deal with the Major League Baseball Players Association could happen “maybe within a week.” After that, MLB owners would hold a conference call for an approval vote. Otani, a 23-year-old with the Pacific League’s Nippon Ham Fighters, would be restricted to a minor-league contract with a maximum signing bonus of $3,535,000, with each team having different amounts to spend. Halem also hopes to have a separate deal with the players’ association by mid-January on pace-of-play changes such as a pitch clock, limits on mound visits and split screens to allow commercials on broadcasts as half-innings start. ALL EARS: New Marlins CEO Derek Jeter says the team is listening to trade offers for slugging outfielder Giancarlo Stanton and says Miami must make changes to stop losing money.

Source: thestar November 16, 2017 01:52 UTC