Introduction of the FA System and Yomiuri's Strategy
The Free Agent (FA) system introduced in 1993 required 8 years of top-level registration (later reduced to 7) for domestic FA rights and 9 years for international FA rights, representing a groundbreaking guarantee of player mobility. The system was born from the players' union's longstanding demands for freedom of movement and the broader modernization of NPB modeled after MLB's free agency. However, in the very first offseason under the new system, the Yomiuri Giants acquired Hiromitsu Ochiai from the Chunichi Dragons, setting the tone for years of aggressive spending. In 1997, they signed Kazuhiro Kiyohara from the Seibu Lions at an estimated annual salary of 360 million yen, and in 2007 they brought in Michihiro Ogasawara from the Nippon-Ham Fighters on a 4-year deal worth a total of 1.6 billion yen. Shuichi Murata from the Yokohama BayStars followed in 2011, and Toshiya Sugiuchi from the SoftBank Hawks in 2012. This pattern of annually poaching rival teams' core players earned the Yomiuri the critical label of 'the FA Yomiuri.'
Issues with the Compensation System
The player compensation system for FA transfers was established as a relief measure for teams losing players. Teams acquiring an FA player must provide either monetary compensation (approximately 80% of the player's previous salary) or player compensation (one player not included on a 28-man protection list). However, Yomiuri skillfully managed their protection lists, ensuring that key players were always protected while leaving only fringe roster players available as compensation. In the 2012 FA transfer of Toshiya Sugiuchi, SoftBank received Yosuke Okamoto as player compensation, but he made only a limited impact at the top level. In the 2019 FA transfer of Yoshihiro Maru from the Hiroshima Carp, Hiroshima acquired Hisayoshi Chono as compensation. While Chono contributed to some degree, he could not fill the void left by Maru. This structural imbalance perpetuates a system that disproportionately benefits wealthy teams, and calls for a fundamental overhaul of the compensation framework have grown louder each year.
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Criticism from Fans and Other Teams
Yomiuri's aggressive FA acquisitions have drawn constant criticism from fans of other teams, who accuse the Yomiuri of 'buying victories with money.' For community-owned franchises like the Hiroshima Carp, which operates without a corporate parent company, losing key players they spent years developing to Yomiuri represents a devastating blow. Hiroshima has repeatedly experienced the departure of core players, including Yoshihiro Maru in 2019 and Takahiro Arai in 2008 (via Hanshin). The Yomiuri's 'strongest lineup in history' assembled in the early 2000s generated enormous buzz, yet the team was swept 0-4 by the Seibu Lions in the 2002 Japan Series, exposing the reality that big spending does not guarantee results. As Pacific League teams have risen through distinctive strategies such as SoftBank's player development system and Nippon-Ham's community-based management, Yomiuri's FA-dependent approach is increasingly viewed as outdated.
Prospects for FA Reform and Changes at Yomiuri
Since the early 2020s, discussions about reforming the FA system itself have intensified. The players' union is pushing for further reductions in the years required to obtain FA rights, while team owners are exploring MLB-style compensation mechanisms such as enhanced player compensation or draft pick transfers. Yomiuri itself has begun to reduce its reliance on FA acquisitions in the 2020s. Under manager Shinnosuke Abe, who took the helm in 2024, the team has prominently featured young players such as Yuto Akihiro and Shogo Asano, signaling a shift toward development-focused management. However, acquisitions like Ginjiro Sumitani from Seibu in 2018 and Yoshihiro Maru from Hiroshima in 2019 demonstrate that the Yomiuri Giants' presence in the FA market remains substantial. Achieving true competitive balance across NPB requires both institutional reform and management efforts from all teams, and the ironic reality is that Yomiuri finds itself in a position to lead that very discussion.
Asymmetric Financial Power and Its Relationship to the Draft System
The structural factor enabling Yomiuri's FA strategy is the asymmetry of financial power within NPB. The Yomiuri Shimbun Group's annual revenue is approximately 500 billion yen, giving it overwhelmingly greater financial backing compared to teams such as the Hiroshima Toyo Carp or Yokohama DeNA BayStars. This disparity in financial strength manifests as the ability to offer multi-year large-scale contracts in the FA market. Meanwhile, NPB's draft system does not employ a full reverse-order selection, meaning weaker teams cannot reliably secure top picks. MLB's system, which grants draft picks in order of previous season's standings from bottom to top, functions to guarantee compensatory development opportunities for teams that lose players through free agency, but this linkage is absent in NPB. The concept of designing competitive balance by integrating the draft and FA as a unified system has become a central point in reform discussions.
Performance Trends of FA-Acquired Players and Cost Effectiveness
Tracking the performance of players Yomiuri acquired through free agency reveals that declining production after transfer is not uncommon. Kiyohara Kazuhiro posted a .260 batting average with 28 home runs at the time of his 1997 transfer, yet over nine seasons with Yomiuri he recorded a batting average above .270 in only two seasons. Ogasawara Michihiro delivered a .313 average with 31 home runs in his first year in 2007, meeting expectations, but injuries plagued the latter half of his four-year contract, drastically reducing his playing time. Maru Yoshihiro, who transferred from Hiroshima in 2019, had earned MVP honors with Hiroshima in 2018 posting a .306 average and 39 home runs, but his home run totals showed a declining trend to the 20s after moving to Yomiuri. FA-acquired players are often in their prime around age 30, and the risk of declining performance in the latter half of large contracts is structurally difficult to avoid. This cost-effectiveness issue lies at the core of criticism directed at Yomiuri's FA-dependent strategy.
Rival Teams' Counter-Strategies and Transformation of the FA Market
In response to Yomiuri's FA offensive, other teams have developed distinctive counter-strategies. The SoftBank Hawks introduced a three-tier farm system and realized roster strength without relying on FA through mass developmental player drafting and proprietary facility investment. The Hiroshima Carp, apart from Hiroki Kuroda's return from MLB in 2015, has consistently avoided FA acquisitions, concentrating resources on scouting and player development. Nippon-Ham has built a cycle of producing next-generation core players through the draft and development even as key players depart via free agency. As a result of these strategic responses, the FA market from the late 2010s onward has shifted from Yomiuri dominance toward multipolarization. SoftBank and Rakuten now also present large-scale contracts, and with more options available to players who declare FA, cases where Yomiuri fails to secure its targets have increased. The intensification of competition in the FA market is gradually transforming the function of the system itself.