Dodgers remain favorites to land Japanese high school pitching phenom

The Los Angeles Dodgers are seen as the favourites to sign 18-year-old Japanese pitcher Shoki Oda, though several other Major League Baseball teams have also met with him. Oda is considered Japan’s leading high-school prospect, and his preference to begin his career in the United States makes the competition for his signature notable.

Oda has met with the Yankees, Tigers, Rangers, Phillies, Mets, Cardinals and Blue Jays, while the Tokyo Giants, who selected him in the recent Nippon Professional Baseball draft, have not met him. Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes praised Oda’s talent and said the club’s international staff had watched him closely. A lockout is expected when baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expires on 1 December, and Oda cannot sign until a new agreement is ratified.