Miami Marlins Picks Japan's Rintaro Sasaki in MLB Draft

Philadelphia, July 12 (Jiji Press)--The Miami Marlins picked Japanese infielder Rintaro Sasaki, who plays for Stanford University in California, in the eighth round of this year's draft of U.S. Major League Baseball on Sunday.

He was chosen 235th overall at the draft conference in Philadelphia.

Sasaki was selected as the first-round pick by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the draft of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball Organization, or NPB, last autumn.

Attention is now focused on the 21-year-old's decision--whether he will join the Hawks, a team in Japan's Pacific League, or the Marlins, a National League team, or continue playing for Stanford University.

Earlier this month, Sasaki met with senior Hawks officials and visited the team's facilities. "I have to make a decision with my responsibility, also by taking the MLB's evaluation of me into consideration," he said.

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