◆2025 Professional baseball Draft Conference supported by Lipovitan D (23rd)
DeNA and Softbank have "forcefully selected" Stanford University infielder Rintaro Sasaki (20) with their first pick in the current draft. The surprise selection caused a stir at the draft venue. It would be the first time in history that a Japanese fielder currently studying abroad is selected by the NPB.
Even if Sasaki is selected by an NPB team, he intends to play at the university until June of next year. Attention was focused on whether the high school slugger, who hit a total of 140 Home Run would be selected as a surprise pick.
The internet was abuzz with the news that Sasaki, who many had rumored would be avoided, would be selected by two teams. Immediately after the selection by the two teams, the six letters "Sasaki Rintaro" suddenly rose to the top of the trending words on X (formerly Twitter).
When Softbank 's Chief Baseball Officer (CBO) Jojima Kenji successfully won the negotiating rights, excited comments such as "Sasaki Rintaro is actually competing!", "Two teams competing for Sasaki Rintaro, that's really rough", "Even though he won the lottery, it's possible that Sasaki Rintaro's side will say, 'No, I'm not going'... They've gone for it... They've gone for it, come on, now that it's come to this", and "Will Sasaki Rintaro also be drafted by the major leagues? I wonder what will happen?" were posted online.
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