NPB Japan Series-winning sidearmer first made available for MLB teams through posting system amid Roki Sasaki and Tomoyuki Sugano rumors

Sidearmer Koyo Aoyagi (credit: Hanshin Tigers/Instagram)

The influx of NPB players to the MLB will continue to the 2025 season as Japan Series-winning pitcher Koyo Aoyagi has been posted and will be available to be signed within a 45-day deadline. The Hanshin Tigers sidearmer was the first to undergo the league's now-famous posting system ahead of compatriots Roki Sasaki and Tomoyuki Sugano, whose postings are heavily anticipated.

Aoyagi was part of the Hanshin Tigers' 2023 championship-winning team, which unseated the defending champion Orix Buffaloes squad led by three-time Pacific League MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.