Japanese schoolboy Yusei Kikuchi has snubbed several offers from Major League Baseball teams and will stay in Japan to play baseball next year, Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday. The 18-year-old pitcher told reporters last week that he was still undecided after talks with all 12 Japanese domestic teams and eight MLB clubs, including the Seattle Mariners and the New York Yankees.
Kikuchi, whose fastball has been clocked at 155kph, spoke to representatives from MLB and Japanese clubs over four days at his high school in northern Japan.
Japanese baseball officials have requested Kikuchi not consider any offer from MLB clubs before Japan's amateur draft on October 29. Last year, Junichi Tazawa became the first amateur player to snub the draft and join the Boston Red Sox from Nippon Oil's corporate team.