The Yankees took a different tack than the teams chasing Japanese high school ace Shoki Oda, and that may be their best shot at landing him.
According to the report, New York sent a six-man group to Japan on Wednesday night to make its case to Oda, who is expected to choose between jumping straight to the American professional ranks or going the college route. The Yankees are trying to persuade him to bypass the Yomiuri Giants, with new manager Hideki Matsui, and head to the United States instead.
What made New York’s visit stand out was the presence of Sam Briend, the Yankees’ director of pitching. That detail matters because, so far, the Yankees were the only club to bring someone from their behind-the-scenes pitching development pipeline into the meeting.
If the Yankees are going to win this race, that approach is probably the reason. The Dodgers have become the obvious destination for Japanese stars, but their success has come with players who arrived already close to finished products.
Shohei Ohtani is the clearest example. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is another, a pitcher whose routine and preparation were so established that the Dodgers never tried to change much.
Roki Sasaki is the more relevant comparison for New York’s pitch to Oda. He entered the market as one of the most hyped international prospects ever and asked teams to come armed with a specific plan to repair his fastball.
The Dodgers clearly sold him on something, whether it was that plan or simply their star power, but the results have not matched the hype so far. He has spent time in Oklahoma City over two uneven seasons, and while he found a brief hot stretch that earned him a bullpen role in October 2025, he still has not become the ace many expected.
His FIPs in his first two big-league seasons were 5.70 and 4.73, and he heads into Year 3 and a lockout still looking like a pitcher in need of real development.
That is the opening the Yankees seem to be targeting. Briend’s presence suggests they want Oda to see more than a brand name and a finished product. They want to sell a pathway, a plan, and a place where growth is part of the pitch.
There is still one obvious problem for New York: if Oda is only looking at which teams he follows on Instagram, the Yankees are in trouble. But if he cares more about development than the polished image of the Dodgers, New York at least gave itself a real chance.
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