Baseball: Watarai, Takeuchi most sought-after players in NPB draft

Corporate league outfielder Ryuki Watarai and college pitcher Natsuki Takeuchi were the most sought-after players in Nippon Professional Baseball’s new player entry draft on Thursday, when both players were named by three teams each as their top choice.

After winning the respective lotteries for the two stars between the clubs that named them at the start of the first round, the DeNA BayStars won the rights to sign Watarai, while the Seibu Lions get to negotiate with Takeuchi.

The negotiating rights for two other college pitchers went in two-way lotteries, with the Yomiuri Giants snapping up Y...