Hideo Nomo. Ichiro Suzuki. Hideki Matsui. Daisuke Matsuzaka. Yu Darvish. Shohei Ohtani. Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Roki Sasaki.

Every name represents a chapter in the unfolding history of Japanese stars who have captivated Major League Baseball fans during Hot Stove seasons past.

In the winter of 2025-26, we will witness something new.

The Yomiuri Giants -- the Yankees of Japanese baseball -- have never posted a star player in his prime. That is about to change.

Kazuma Okamoto, a six-time Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star, will be available to MLB teams this winter via the posting system .

From 2018 through 2023, Okamoto posted six straight seasons of at least 30 home runs. Matsui, who had seven such seasons in a row, was not permitted by the Giants to leave until he gained internation

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