Japanese right-hander Shoki Oda is one of the most interesting names of the offseason, as the 18-year-old right-hander is meeting with MLB teams, including the Dodgers.
The lure of a larger bonus in the U.S. than what they might get in the NPB draft has led to some Japanese teenagers to jump stateside. Yuri Karasawa talked about this trend as well as Oda as a guest of Ben Lindbergh on an episode of the Effectively Wild Podcast last week.
Karasawa went deeper into Oda with Jordan Shusterman and Jake Mintz on the Baseball Bar-B-Cast podcast.
Eric Longenhagen at FanGraphs scouted several Japanese players available this winter, and wrote, “My sources tell me Oda is more likely to sign after the new international signing period begins in 2027 rather than try to sneak in before the end of 2026.