Japanese baseball stars have almost exclusively come to MLB after playing in NPB. Morii is breaking precedent by signing with the A's.

Hoping to become a two-way player in Major League Baseball just like Shohei Ohtani, 18-year-old Shotaro Morii made the rare decision to bypass Japanese professional baseball entirely and agreed to a minor league contract with the Athletics that includes a signing bonus of $1,

MLB's annual international signing period opened Wednesday and while the baseball world awaits Roki Sasaki's decision, the Athletics swooped in to sign a touted Japanese two-way player. The A's signed 18-year-old Shotaro Morii to a minor-league contract with a $1,