The Yankees are chasing Shoki Oda for reasons that go well beyond one teenager’s arm.
New York has made a strong push for the 18-year-old Japanese right-hander, according to Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, and the effort has stood out. Oda, who is leaving high school and planning to sign with a major league club as an international free agent instead of going into NPB, met with the Yankees for two hours in Japan.
That visit lasted longer than the time other clubs were given, and the Yankees even sent minority owner Soichiro Minami to the meeting. New York is believed to be the only team that brought an ownership representative.
Oda is expected to meet with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Detroit Tigers, and two other teams in the coming days, so nothing is settled yet. But the Yankees’ level of interest makes their intentions pretty clear once the IFA window opens on January 15, subject to change because of the impending MLB lockout.
What makes Oda so appealing is the kind of pitcher he already looks like. At 18, he has reportedly reached 97 mph with his fastball, and he pairs it with a slider, curveball, cutter and splitter. For a high school arm, that kind of velocity and variety is a big-time calling card.
He also has a performance that gives scouts and front offices something concrete to grab onto. In the Koshien quarterfinals for Yokohama High School, Oda threw a complete game shutout against Hanamaki Higashi, allowing seven hits and three walks while striking out 10. He did it over 123 pitches, and his fastball still touched 97 mph multiple times.
That’s the kind of outing that can turn a prospect into a priority.
And for the Yankees, the pursuit is about more than just one player. Their last major addition from Japan was Masahiro Tanaka in 2014, and the organization has gone years without landing Japanese talent. The issue stretches beyond that market, too, with New York’s international scouting operation now getting a major overhaul after its pipeline of successful international prospects dried up.
Bringing in Oda would be one way to start changing that story. The Yankees are trying to sell a different future under their new international scouting setup, and if Oda buys into it, other international prospects could follow.
There’s also the bigger picture inside the organization. The Aaron Judge window is still open, though it’s getting closer to the end than the beginning, and the Yankees are already seeing the next wave take shape with Ben Rice, George Lombard Jr., Spencer Jones, and Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler. Those players point to the next phase of Yankees baseball, and they’ll need more young talent around them as that era arrives.
So while New York still has to finish the job with its current core, the Oda pursuit shows the club is thinking ahead, too. The Yankees clearly see him as part of that next layer, not just another international gamble.
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