Differences in Restrictions on Player Mobility

Here are the necessary documents in Japanese: Contract [Japan Professional Baseball Player Association].

I don't know how much detail you want, but to be quite frank, what you are asking for is equivalent to a Japanese person asking someone to translate MLB rules into Japanese. That would be a little too much, don't you think?

No doubt, it's a complex and difficult question. I didn't intend for my question to be read as asking for a literal translation of Japanese rules and contracts. I was just hoping someone was familiar with how things like a draft and free agency work in Japan.

Thank you for the link to the JPBPA. Maybe I can glean some information from Google's translation of the webpage.

- Is there a draft?

Yes. The draft system was set up in 1965 in an attempt to better distribute the baseball talent which was being concentrated with the Yomiuri Giants. There followed a long history of rule changes, bending of the rules, and scandals geared toward allowing the Giants to continue to get the cream of each crop.

- Is there arbitration?

Yes, there is. There have been a grand total of 7 players since 1973 go through the arbitration process (two of them foreigners). In fact, Seibu's ace pitcher Hideaki Wakui just became the third player to get more than the club was offering in arbitration as, until now, the arbitration process was stacked in the favor of the ball clubs.

Jim Allen (the Daily Yomiuri) wrote a good piece on Wakui's arbitration recently. Gen at Yakyu Baka has a table of arbitration results if you're interested. Look around the Yakyu Baka site and you'll find a great deal more background information about the arbitration process.

- Is there free agency?

Yes, there is. Originally the time required was 10 years of playing with the top team (the definition of 1 year being 145 days where days over 145 in a single year don't continue to count). Since then, the number of years has decreased to 9 years, then 8 for domestic free agency while still at 9 years for being able to move to the MLB as a free agent. Those drafted after a certain year (I don't recall off hand) now only need 7 years of service to attain domestic free agency, and there was some exception to the number of years required for those who participated in the gyaku-shimei ("reverse designation") draft. If one goes through the free agency process, one must server another three years on the top team before becoming a free agent again.

In short, yes, but it's complicated.

- Are there any mechanisms in place that allow owners to restrict player mobility? i.e., Do the owners "own" players for a certain time period?

Yes. Please see the above statement on free agency. The owners "own" the players until they can reach free agency.

What the owners do with that power differs greatly, though. The Giants use that power absolutely, not allowing anyone to leave until they're done with them, then they toss them aside like stale left overs. Of course, if you're not the team ace and bring an agent to salary discussions, they'll send you to Hokkaido the week after your contract is finalized. With Koji Uehara (who was the staff ace), they ignored his lawyer in the discussions and refused to acknowledge him as Uehara's agent.

The Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (now Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) were notorious for letting their players go where they liked if they asked, no strings attached. Most teams operate somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.

Hope this helps.

This is a huge help. Thanks so much.