Shotaro Morii (18), an infielder from Toho High School (Tokyo) who signed a minor league contract with the Athletics of the US major league baseball team, held a press conference at the school in Kunitachi City on the 11th. He is a "two-way player" who boasts a top speed of 153 km/h as a right-handed pitcher and a total of 45 home runs as a left-handed batter in high school. He aims to be promoted to the majors in four or five years, and in the future he has set a goal of "double-digit wins as a pitcher, 30 home runs as a batter, and a batting average of .300."

After nine American teams competing, he announced his contract with the Athletics on January 15th (January 16th Japan time). "The fact that they highly evaluated me as a two-way player and their policy of using young players was a big factor," he said, and his commitment to both pitching and batting was the deciding factor. The team also praised him for his mental state, saying that he has "confidence and composure."

At the press conference when he signed his contract, he delivered a speech in fluent English, which he had begun to study seriously in the summer of his second year of high school. However, he said with a wry smile, "I didn't have time to practice... I really wanted to speak without looking at the cue cards, but I wrote the script the day before. I wish I had practiced a bit more."

He spent about a month in the US practicing on his own, before returning to Japan on the 10th. He plans to return to the US in early March while continuing to train at the school. "I can't immediately reach the world I saw, but I want to do what I can, step by step," he said, as he continues to work hard, just as he has done up until now, aiming for the highest stage.