Baseball: Hawks' novel project could spark huge changes

When Carter Stewart and Japan's SoftBank Hawks agreed to a six-year, $6 million contract in 2019, it made news as the historic first such deal between an elite American amateur and a Japanese pro team.Their deal began an experiment, which, if successful, could spark imitation, lure other amateurs here and fundamentally change Japanese pro baseball and its relationship with the major leagues.Since teams from Japan's first pro league began competing in the spring of 1936, Japan's pro-establishment has hoped to be the equal of Major League Baseball someday. But because most of the world's elit…READ FULL ARTICLE