One of the more intriguing Major League Baseball free agents this offseason was expected to be Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani, who was slated to be posted by his Nippon Professional Baseball team, the Nippon Ham Fighters.
That stalled, however, as the MLB, the Players Association and NPB had yet to agree on a new posting system. A deadline was set for Monday, which was then pushed back 24 hours to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, amid progress made in negotiations.
Just over an hour before the new deadline, which in some regard was an arbitrary one, reports began to surface of MLBPA and the NPB reaching an agreement on a posting system, which would allow for Ohtani to sign with a team this winter.