The Kansas City Royals have agreed with 16-year-old Japanese pitcher Kaito Yuki on the terms of a minor league contract, informed sources said Saturday.
Yuki, who represented Japan in a youth tournament in the United States last year, had rejected offers from a number of Japanese high schools in order to pursue a baseball career in the major leagues.
Standing nearly 1.90 meters, the right-hander's fastball is typically around 140 kilometers (87 miles) per hour. According to the sources, Yuki wants to be like Yu Darvish, who grew up in the same city in Osaka Prefecture.
