There are many professional leagues around the world where MLB teams sign free agents from. These professional leagues have separate rules and regulations for who is eligible to sign with an MLB team and the procedure to do so.
The most prominent leagues are the KBO, in Korea, the Nippon Professional Baseball league, in Japan, and the National Series, in Cuba. Players that sign with MLB teams from foreign professional leagues are not subject to the same regulations that foreign amateur players are.
Notably, when a foreign professional free agent agrees to their signing bonus it does not count against the MLB club’s international amateur free agent bonus pool.
Cuba
Cuban professionals that are over 25 years old and have at least six seasons of service in the Cuban Serie Nacional are eligible to sign with MLB teams. They may sign major league or minor league contracts. Some notable Cuban-born players in the MLB include; Jose Abreu, Yoenis Cespedes, and Aroldis Chapman.
Japan & Korea
Players in the Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB) and the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) are eligible to sign with MLB teams once they have fulfilled nine years of professional service.
Players that have not been professionals for nine seasons can be “posted” by their Japanese or Korean club, granting MLB teams the right to negotiate with those players. If the player and MLB club come to terms their Japanese or Korean club will receive a “release fee” in order for the transaction to be official.
Under the current CBA, if a player is posted, MLB clubs have 30 days to negotiate. In 2020, the posting window was changed to November 8th through December 12th.
If a player does not reach an agreement with any MLB club they will return to their Japanese or Korean club and cannot be posted again until the following offseason.
When an MLB club signs a player from the KBO or NPB to a major league contract the release fee is determined by the total value of the contract. For contracts less than $25 million, the release fee is 20% of the total contract value.
For contracts between $25 million and $50 million, the release fee is 20% for the first $25 million and then 17.5% for additional value between $25 million and $50 million.
For contracts larger than $50 million, the release fee is 20% for the first $25 million, 17.5% for the second $25 million, and 15% for additional value above $50 million.
For players that agree to minor league contracts the release fee is 25% of the signing bonus.
Notable players that have signed from Japan and Korea include Masahiro Tanaka, Hideki Matsui, Shohei Ohtani, and Yu Darvish.
Summary
International players made up 28% of opening day MLB rosters at the start of the 2021 season. Some of the game’s greatest stars were born outside the US and their contributions to the league continue to pave the way for the next generation of MLB stars.
Related Links:
https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/korean-posting-system
https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/international-free-agency-cuba-professional
https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/japanese-posting-system
https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/international-free-agency-asia-professional
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