In keeping with their newfound profligacy, this week it was announced that the Athletics signed 18-year-old Japanese star (in waiting?) Shotaro Morii to a record-setting deal, with a $1,510,500 bonus. Who is Shotaro Morii, and how and why did the small-market (which market?) club get theirs hands on him?

Hoping to become a two-way player in Major League Baseball just like Shohei Ohtani, 18-year-old Shotaro Morii made the rare decision to bypass Japanese professional baseball entirely and agreed to a minor league contract with the Athletics that includes a signing bonus of $1,

Japanese baseball stars have almost exclusively come to MLB after playing in NPB. Morii is breaking precedent by signing with the A's.