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 involved Shigeru Kobayashi and Suguru Egawa in the 1979 'Blank Day' incident, which escalated into a national controversy. Recent efforts to increase player mobility include establishing a trade deadline (July 31) and introducing the current player draft for non-tendered players.