An early Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah everyone. The Nippon-Ham Fighters are reportedly going to post Shohei Ohtani.

Now there’s still an obstacle to be cleared.

The Fighters want the old posting fee of $20 million to be grandfathered into the arrangement, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported there is a “tentative agreement” in place between the MLB and NPB to do just that. Now, the MLBPA simply must sign off. That appears to be the final hurdle.

Wrote Sherman on Nov. 8:

Now that Ohtani took on a union-certified representative earlier this week – CAA – the Players Association can be confident that the player will know the union’s concerns and all of his options. Therefore, an expectation lingers that a pact will be finalized at some point in the near future that will permit Ohtani to become the most sought-after free agent of this offseason.

It seems like enough parties involved want to get this done so that it will get done, and Ohtani will become one of the most fascinating — and talented — free agents in MLB history.

Every team figures to be interested in making a bid. Because Ohtani would be arriving at age 23, he’ll be subject to international bonus-pool limits and will have to sign a minor-league contract. It appears Ohtani will be squandering hundreds of millions of dollars by not waiting two years to make this move, though many (including Dave Cameron) have wondered what’s would stop a club from quickly signing him to a lucrative extension?

The Associated Press reports that the Rangers have the most cash available to pursue Ohtani.

The Rangers can agree to a maximum $3,535,000 signing bonus from their pool that covers July 2 through next June 15, according to figures compiled by Major League Baseball and obtained by The Associated Press. New York can pay $3.25 million and the Twins $3,245,000.

Just three other teams can give him a seven-figure signing bonus: Pittsburgh ($2,266,750), Miami ($1.74 million) and Seattle ($1,570,500)….

Twelve teams are capped at $300,000 as penalties for exceeding their signing bonus pool under baseball’s previous collective bargaining agreement, which did not have a cap: Atlanta, the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas City, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland, St. Louis, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington.

Of course, Ohtani will likely have considerations beyond the bonus totals. That means teams will have to be creative in how they sell their club as the best fit beyond the initial dollars they can pay him. Ohtani is going to be less like a typical big-name free agent and more like a five-star college recruit.

This is going to be fascinating courtship to follow beyond Ohtani’s unique dual talents.

And it looks like it’s going to happen.