Meet A’s Japanese prospect trying to become next Shohei Ohtani

There may never be another Shohei Ohtani, but don’t tell that to the Oakland A’s, as they just signed an 18-year-old Japanese star who plays both ways in Shotaro Morii.

When Ohtani broke into the majors in 2018, there hadn’t been a full-time two-way player in the bigs for more than 50 years. The closest thing the league had seen since the ’70s was Rick Ankiel breaking in with the Cardinals as a fireball pitcher in 1999, completely losing his ability to find the strike zone, then reinventing himself as one of the best outfielders in baseball for the remainder of his career.

He never hit and pitched at the same time like Ohtani, though. Or like A’s rookie Morii.

Morii started his high school career in Japan as a third baseman who would pitch on occasion, like any young high school star would do. But by his junior year, he’d switched to shortstop and was a regular starting pitcher who showed off 95-mile-per-hour heat.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder can blow a fastball by you, then hit for power and average as well, which is why he was routinely rated among the Top-10 Japanese high school prospects this season.

It’s incredibly rare for Japanese high schoolers to leave the country before playing in their country’s professional league, the NPB. And it’s even more difficult when those players are as versatile and have as much promise as Morii. But the A’s were able to pry him away from the NPB with a record $1.5 million offer, which not only convinced him to leave Japan for the US but also was enough to keep him from playing college baseball in the States as well, which was originally his plan.

But now he’ll be spending the next few years in the A’s farm system before the team eventually brings him when the team officially moves to Las Vegas three years from now. Of course, if Morii shows anywhere near the skills of Ohtani, that timeline may move up a bit. But they’re in no rush.

A two-way player like Morii is a unicorn in today’s game. After witnessing the Ohtani experience, fans are begging for someone to come in and be the MVP’s heir apparent. His marketing value alone is worth the $1.5 million the A’s signed him for. And if he can come anywhere close to the success Ohtani has found in the MLB, it’s possible the A’s have made one of the best signings in organizational history.