In a typical baseball offseason, even the biggest personnel moves are fundamentally simple equations: Team X signs Player Y to a $ZZZ million contract (as will likely be the case for J.D. Martinez this winter), or a small-market team trades the superstar it can no longer afford to a large-market team that can (as may be the case with Giancarlo Stanton) for prospects and hope.
But this winter, the most intriguing transaction on the talent marketplace will require something closer to advanced calculus to close out. To land Shohei Otani, the fabled, two-way Japanese star, a team will need to navigate the still-to-be-negotiated Nippon Professional Baseball posting system, Major League Baseball’s international bonus pool restrictions and delicate negotiations with Otani’s American agents.