Japan's Kikuchi in a dilemma over league offers

Japanese teen pitcher Yusei Kikuchi, winding up interviews with 20 US major league and domestic clubs, said Tuesday he was in a deeper dilemma over where he will play after graduating from school in March.

"I find it more difficult to decide now than before the interviews," the 18-year-old told Japanese media after four US major league baseball clubs met him at his school in the northern rural city of Hanamaki.

"Honestly speaking, I want to choose both (the United States and Japan) because both are great," said Kikuchi, whose left-handed fastballs reach as much as 154 kilometres (96 miles) an hour.

"I feel honoured that major league people have come this far.

"Japan's system for talent development is meticulous while the United States has a step-by-step system from the rookie leagues... to the major leagues," he added. "I cannot say when but I want to decide as soon as possible."

A total of 20 clubs, including eight major league outfits, have each held separate, 30-minute interviews with Kikuchi over the past several days.

He met representatives of the Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians Tuesday, the day after he met those from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants.

The Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) organisation will hold a meeting on October 29 to divide the rights among Japanese professional clubs to negotiate with new talent.

The NPB has demanded Kikuchi not receive an offer from any major league clubs before the amateur draft meeting, Japanese media said.

Japanese professional clubs are not allowed to table their offers before the draft, while there is no such rule for US major league clubs.

Last year, Junichi Tazawa refused to be named in the Japanese draft and instead signed a three-year deal with the Boston Red Sox -- the first such move by a top Japanese amateur.

Kikuchi helped his school, Hanamaki Higashi High, to a runner-up finish at a national high school invitational tournament in April and to the semi-finals in the national championship in August.