Overview
The Free Agency (FA) system in NPB grants players who have accumulated a specified number of days on the active roster the right to leave their current team and negotiate freely with other clubs. Introduced in 1993, it fundamentally reshaped Japanese professional baseball by guaranteeing players' freedom of movement. There are two types of free agency: domestic FA, which permits negotiation with other NPB teams, and international FA, which extends to leagues outside Japan including MLB. Domestic FA eligibility requires eight years of first-team registration for high school draftees and seven years for college or corporate league draftees; international FA requires nine years. When a player exercises FA rights and signs with a new team, the acquiring club must compensate the former team. Compensation varies by the player's salary ranking and may consist of monetary payment alone or money plus a player selected from outside the acquiring team's protected list. This player compensation mechanism aims to maintain competitive balance, though many clubs struggle with the strategic challenge of constructing their protected lists. While the FA system expanded player rights, it has also drawn criticism for concentrating talent on wealthier franchises, and debate over the system's fairness has persisted since its inception.