MIAMI -- The Miami Marlins drafted Japanese slugger Rintaro Sasaki out of Stanford in the eighth round of the amateur draft on Sunday.
The 21-year-old first baseman played two seasons at Stanford, hitting .262 with 16 homers and 47 RBI as a sophomore last year.
Sasaki played under Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani's father, Toru, as a kid and is Japan's all-time high school home run leader.
Fukuoka SoftBank of Nippon Professional Baseball has exclusive negotiating rights after using a first-round pick on Sasaki last October, so he faces a decision whether to remain in the U.S. or head back to Japan to start his professional career.