How Teruaki Sato’s MLB Posting Works: The Negotiating Window and Release Fee

Teruaki Sato’s move toward Major League Baseball begins with an open negotiating window, rather than an agreement with a particular team. The Hanshin Tigers made him available through Japan’s posting system Sunday, with negotiations permitted to begin Monday, November 2.

Sato, 27, won the Central League Triple Crown in 2026 with a .306 average, 39 home runs and 106 RBIs, MLB.com reported. Those results explain the attention surrounding his availability. The posting rules determine how that availability can become a major league contract.

What posting allows

A posted player can negotiate with all 30 MLB clubs. Hanshin does not select a single negotiating partner, and the posting does not establish that Sato has chosen a destination.

Under MLB’s published rules, clubs normally have 45 days to negotiate. If the player does not reach an agreement within that window, he returns to his Japanese team for the coming season and cannot be posted again until the following offseason.

The Associated Press identified December 16 as the normal closing date for Sato and fellow posted Japanese pitchers Kaima Taira and Hiromi Itoh. That calendar describes the ordinary posting process.

The contract and Hanshin’s release fee

The MLB team that signs Sato also owes Hanshin a release fee. That payment is calculated from the guaranteed value of his contract, rather than being a fixed price announced when the posting begins.

The percentage falls as the guarantee crosses specified thresholds. The first $25 million carries a 20% fee. The next $25 million carries a 17.5% fee, and guaranteed value above $50 million carries a 15% fee.

The following examples apply those brackets to hypothetical major league contracts. They do not predict Sato’s salary.

For a $100 million guarantee, the calculation is $5 million on the first bracket, $4.375 million on the second and $7.5 million on the remaining $50 million. A larger contract therefore increases both the player’s guarantee and the acquiring club’s release-fee expense.

MLB’s rules also provide for supplemental payments tied to bonuses, salary escalators or exercised options. Those provisions mean the initial guaranteed-contract calculation may not be Hanshin’s final receipt.

Why Sato’s age matters

International bonus-pool restrictions generally apply unless a foreign professional is at least 25 and has played six seasons in a recognized foreign league. MLB.com reports that Sato can negotiate without those restrictions, unlike the younger Roki Sasaki when he moved before the 2025 season.

Sato’s posting therefore creates a conventional contract negotiation alongside the release-fee obligation. It does not assign him to a club or set his eventual pay.

The separate labor deadline

MLB’s collective bargaining agreement expires December 1, before the ordinary closing date AP reported for Sato. The labor negotiations are a separate issue from the standard posting timetable. A work stoppage would depend on separate labor decisions, so the normal negotiating window and the ability to complete a signing are distinct questions.