Major League Baseball's new international amateur free-agent signing cycle opened Wednesday, meaning that Japanese ace Roki Sasaki will soon make his long-awaited free-agent decision over the coming days.

Roki Sasaki can sign with Major League Baseball teams during a nine-day window starting Wednesday, an unusual free agency that caused a domino effect among Latin American teenagers whose unofficial agreements are on hold pending his decision.

One of the most highly anticipated and unique free agencies in Major League Baseball history is nearing its conclusion in the next 10 days. Roki Sasaki, a 23-year-old, right-handed pitcher whose generational talent has been revered in his native Japan since he was a teenager,