Yankees Rumors: International money offered for Japanese high school pitching star?

Ever since the New York Yankees lost upper-crust shortstop Wandy Asigen to the Mets in International Free Agency, and severed ties with several other pre-commitments, the world has been trying to solve the mystery of what they'd do with their remaining lump sum of cash. The answer certainly could be "nothing at all" — they believe the turnover and dissolved pre-agreements were worth the fresh start. But ... they have money no one else does, it expires, and they didn't use any of it to facilitate trade deadline deals like we theorized they might. What ... exactly do they have up their sleeve?

According to a report that dropped from the Japanese press on Tuesday, we have an estimation. Sources in Japan claim that high school pitcher Shoki Oda may be fending off a substantial offer from an MLB team to forgo professional baseball in the NPB and jump right to Major League Baseball's affiliated minors.

It takes a bit of dot connecting to get there but, if true, it certainly sounds like the Yankees are the team that best fits this description and is hustling to pull off something intriguing.

As the translated tweet reads, "There's talk that an MLB team has made a 500-million-yen-level offer to pitcher Shoki Oda from Yokohama High School."

"Nikkan Gendai published an article about it as early as late July, so the rumor of a bid from an East Coast historic powerhouse (NYY) seems pretty credible. They also have exactly $3.08 million (just under 500 million yen) left in their international FA bonus pool. But it'd be a shame if he goes straight to MLB."

Yankees could jump the line for Japanese star Shoki Oda with international money leftovers

Oda is mostly myth, at this point, but what we do know makes him sound like someone who could become a legend in the right hands. He owns the record for fastest pitch in Koshien history, the Japanese National High School Baseball championship. This will not stun you, but the Dodgers have been noted as one of six teams potentially looking to lure him into the American pros before his value skyrockets.

If the stories of Oda's prowess are true, he'll command a $300+ million contract six or so years down the line like Yoshinobu Yamamoto. $3 million could turn out to be a massive bargain — and, even if it doesn't, it's a use-it-or-lose-it lump sum for the Yankees right now. New York has until Dec. 15 to make use of these funds. Hopefully, this Oda search is legitimate and not just a wild goose chase.

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