Overview
A trade exchanges players between teams, taking various forms including cash trades and multi-player swaps. NPB sees far fewer trades than MLB, often only a handful per season. Contributing factors include player resistance to relocation, underdeveloped inter-team negotiation culture, and limited focus on competitive balance. The most famous NPB trade grew out of the 'Blank Day' of 21 November 1978, when Egawa Suguru signed with the Yomiuri Giants on the eve of the draft; the Kobayashi Shigeru and Egawa swap that followed in January 1979 escalated into a national controversy. The July 31 trade deadline is a long-standing rule that restricts roster moves late in the season rather than a recent step toward mobility. The measure aimed at mobility is the active player draft, launched in 2022, and it covers not released players but players on the controlled roster who get little playing time (development-contract players are excluded).