Stanford slugger Rintaro Sasaki drafted in 1st round of 2025 NPB Draft by Fukuoka
On Thursday night (Japan time), Stanford sophomore 1st baseman Rintaro Sasaki was drafted in the 1st round of the 2025 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Draft by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (福岡ソフトバンクホークス). Sasaki is coming off a season in which he batted .269 for seven home runs and 41 RBIs to go along with a .413 slugging percentage and a .377 on base percentage. Following his sophomore season at Stanford, he will be eligible for the 2026 MLB Draft.
WorldBaseball.com offered more insight into what this exactly means for Sasaki going forward:
“Sasaki did not formally declare himself eligible for the Draft this year either, but was nonetheless nominated in the first round by both the Yokohama DeNA BayStars and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, to the surprise of many in the audience. SoftBank ultimately won the lottery for Sasaki’s negotiation rights, giving them the opportunity to sign him as early as next summer, following the conclusion of the NCAA season.
“However, Sasaki has expressed aspirations to play Major League Baseball, and his move to Stanford was widely presumed to be a strategic step toward fast-tracking a path to MLB. He is under no obligation to sign with SoftBank and remains eligible for the 2026 MLB Draft, but now holds the option to return to Japan should he reconsider or fall short of being a top draft pick in the eyes of MLB organizations.
“It’s also worth noting that SoftBank enforces a strict anti-posting policy, meaning a jump from the Hawks to MLB would likely require Sasaki to complete nine full years of NPB service time to earn international free agency, should he join the team. The NPB Draft does not include compensation picks, so the Hawks will have effectively forfeited their first-round selection if Sasaki ultimately decides not to sign, making this gambit a potentially costly one.
“The deadline for contract negotiations between the two sides is July 2026.”
The nut of it is Sasaki has the chance to either chase his MLB dream after his sophomore year on The Farm or return to Japan with the chance to be the star of their league. This gives Sasaki more options and leverage in contract negotiations, so he’s of course the big winner in all this provided he has a strong sophomore season.
The gamble of course for Fukuoka is this draft pick may end up not yielding anything should Sasaki choose to go the MLB. Of course, if you really believe in a guy and think he could greatly help your franchise, what risk is there, really? Even though it’s in the first round, it’s still one draft pick. Why not take him and see what happens?
On top of that , Fukuoka went 87-52 overall this season, finishing first in the Pacific League and first in the Nippon Professional Baseball overall. Fukuoka will compete against the Hanshin Tigers (阪神タイガース) in the Japan Series, which is the championship series. The fact that Fukuoka had such a strong season this year should make them feel all the more comfortable in taking a flyer on Sasaki.
As for what this means for Stanford, this of course means odds are good Sasaki is going pro after the 2026 season. Even before the NPB draft, I think they knew that, but this just highlights that reality even more. Given how highly touted of a prospect Sasaki was coming out of Japan, it really would be a major bummer for Stanford to not at least threaten to make the College World Series next season. It’ll be interesting to see how they put things together with Sasaki as their center piece and where Sasaki ultimately ends up in the professional ranks.
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