A's Appear Poised to Sign Two-Way Player From Japan

The MLB International Signing Period opens up tomorrow, and all eyes will be on where the top player on the market, Roki Sasaki, will choose to sign. We know that he's not choosing the A's. But there is a smattering of other talent that the Sacramento squad is projected to sign, according to Baseball America.

The most notable (and highest ranked) player that is projected to sign with the A's in the coming days is two-way player Shotaro Morii out of Japan. Standing 6-foot-1, Morii bats from the left side and throws from the right, and he is skipping the NPB altogether after high school and choosing to sign directly with an MLB team. That team appears to be the A's.

While we don't know his signing info yet, he is the No. 25 prospect on BA's list, and they generally rate those players as receiving a bonus around $1.5 million and up. With the A's having the largest bonus pool this period, the "and up" may be important.

Baseball America had this to say of Morii, "Morii has a simple, low-effort swing from the left side of the plate. Like a lot of hitters in Japan, he will stride open but has good hand-eye coordination and a knack for making contact along with the bat speed to square up good velocity and drive balls out of the park to his pull side.

"An average runner, Morii moves around well at shortstop, with fluid actions and a plus arm. He could stick at the position, though if he does continue as a two-way player, that could present a challenge. On the mound, he has been up to 94 mph and shown feel for both a slider and splitter, with a curveball as a show-me pitch as well. He will need to tighten his control, but he has the stuff to be a legitimate pitching prospect if that was his only position."

Morii was rumored to be in agreement with the Athletics earlier this offseason, with a report out of Japan floating around, but that report was unable to be confirmed due to the fact that he has to sign when the period opens on, or after, January 15.

It seems as though this should be official in the coming days.

The A's are also projected to signed 17-year-old shortstop out of the Bahamas, Ayden Johnson, and 18-year-old outfielder from Venezuela, Breyson Guedez. They are ranked right behind Morii as the No. 28 and 29 prospects in this signing period.

Overall, the A's are projected as the landing spot for four of the top 100 prospects, with the aforementioned three, as well as No. 45 Darwin Ozuna out of the Dominican Republic.

Nothing is official just yet, and it's possible that the team that signs Sasaki will be unable to sign the players that they'd already had agreements in place with, which would essentially see them hit the market yet again. This could be an opportunity for the A's to potentially swoop up another international signee or two, depending on how much is left in their pool.

They could also look to move some of their excess bonus pool to one of the three Sasaki hopefuls--the Dodgers, Padres, and Blue Jays--in exchange for a lower level prospect.