Why Dodgers fans can't get too excited about Japanese prospect Shoki Oda rumors

By virtue of having all of Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki on their roster, the Los Angeles Dodgers will always be the first MLB team on everyone's mind when conversation turns to Japanese players looking to make the transition over.

It's an understandable, but flawed, line of thinking. Last year, all of Munetaka Murakami, Kazuma Okamoto, and Tatsuya Imai were "connected" to the Dodgers, only to go to the Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and Houston Astros, respectively. Even if the Dodgers were privately interested, none fit onto LA's roster at the time.

Still, attentions this year turn toward Triple Crown winner Teruaki Sato (who also doesn't fit onto the roster) and 18-year-old pitcher Shoki Oda.

Sato and Oda are different cases. Sato's Hanshin Tigers are ready to approve his posting to MLB, the more traditional channel to MLB, while Oda is attempting to follow in the footsteps of Shohei Ohtani and Roki Sasaki, neither of whom had enough NPB service time to come over as fully-fledged free agents.

The hype around Oda is perhaps more real, too. His favorite player is Yamamoto, and the only major league team he follows on Instagram is the Dodgers. He announced his intention to skip the NPB draft and explore opportunities in the United States earlier this month, but the Yomiuri Giants still took him with their first overall pick in this year's NPB draft.

Signs are pointing to Oda resisting NPB overtures to come to MLB as an international free agent, but the Giants are going to try to convince him otherwise.

Dodgers have a leg up in a potential Shoki Oda market, but there's reason to temper expectations

Oda drew eyes during Japan's Summer Koshien, a massive tournament that features 49 teams from Japanese high schools. Ohtani, Ichiro Suzuki, and Daisuke Matsuzaka all competed as high schoolers. Ota threw a 97.6 MPH fastball, the fastest the tournament has ever seen. Both NPB and MLB scouts were in attendance when he threw 8⅔ innings of two-run, 12-strikeout baseball in a start during the tournament.

If Oda makes good on his intention to come to the States, even if it's to follow Rintaro Sasaki's lead and play college baseball first, the Dodgers will certainly be at the front of the line.

The Giants — and the rest of NPB, for that matter — are having a hard time keeping their players in Japan, as contracts overseas get bigger and the game continues to grow. Yomiuri just signed Baseball Hall of Famer Hideki Matsui as their manager, which could be tempting to a young player, but it might not be enough.

Oda is one to keep an eye on and there's concrete evidence to point to the Dodgers as heavy favorites, but NPB might be willing to do whatever it can to keep him in Japan for the time being.

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