We sat down with Hiro Sakanashi to break down everything you need to know about the Japan Winter League 2026 — one of the best showcase opportunities for players looking to sign with a team in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, or Europe.

Hiro covers:

📋 How registration works and when to sign up (opened June 1st, 2026)

🏟️ League structure — Advanced League vs. Tryout League

🎯 What Japanese scouts are actually looking for in foreign players

🛣️ Independent league pathways to NPB via the BC League & Shikoku Island League

💴 Costs, housing, and what's included in your registration

📊 How Trackman & live data give you a real shot at getting noticed

The league runs November 21 – December 18 at a professional NPB spring training facility in Okinawa. Early bird pricing is available through the end of August.

Don't wait — register as soon as spots open. Use code BBJO2026 for a discount when signing up here: https://japanleague.palettetree.jp/form/jwl2026

📩 Contact: BBJO or reach Hiro directly on Instagram @coachsaka

Connor Perry, a left-handed pitcher from Arizona, went from a 5.66 ERA in college at Presentation College (NAIA) to building a professional career overseas. After joining Baseball Jobs Overseas, he found success in New Zealand and Germany—two seasons that transformed his game and confidence. Now, in 2025, he lives abroad full-time, pitching for a national team and facing former MLB players and prospects. In this interview, Connor breaks down how he made it happen.

When Tyler Aasland finished her collegiate career, the path forward wasn’t obvious. After redshirting at the Division I level and seeing limited playing time in Division II, she could have walked away from the game. Instead, she took a leap — and that leap took her across the world.

In this episode of the Baseball Jobs Overseas podcast, Tyler shares how playing in the Netherlands, Australia, Austria, Germany, New Zealand, and Spain transformed not only her softball career, but her identity as an athlete and coach. Overseas, she became a consistent starter, hit over .400 season after season, and even captured a Best Hitter award after batting .611 at the European Cup Winners Cup.

Tyler opens up about adjusting to new cultures and league standards, balancing life far from home, and stepping into a player/coach role abroad. She also dives into how her background in behavioral neuroscience shapes her coaching philosophy — especially her commitment to “explaining the why” behind every drill and adjustment.

For athletes considering the overseas route, this conversation is a powerful reminder: sometimes the opportunity you’re looking for isn’t at home — it’s waiting in another country.

In this episode, we sit down with Canadian ballplayer Evan Symons to trace an unconventional and inspiring baseball journey, from little league in East Vancouver to becoming an overseas MVP. Evan shares how walking on at the University of Ottawa (Canada), helping transform its club program, and embracing leadership roles off the field prepared him for life abroad with BBJO. He reflects on his first overseas contract in the Austrian second division, a breakout season in his second season overseas, and the powerful community impact of coaching youth players. Evan also dives into his memorable performances with the Globetrotters at Finkstonball and the Milan tournament, being served dugout snacks by World Series winner Jeremy Guthrie, and overcoming long-standing “imposter syndrome.” It’s a story of resilience, open-mindedness, and how playing overseas can completely change a player’s confidence and their life.

On this episode of the Baseball Jobs Overseas Podcast, we chat with Ethan Skuija, the Canadian flame-thrower who once led the BBJO Globetrotters to a Prague Baseball Week championship by shutting down the Spanish National Team. Ethan was touching 97 mph and on MLB scouts’ radar, but the call never came. Instead, his journey took him to pitching at Fenway Park and now creating a fast-growing YouTube channel. Tune in as Ethan shares the inside story of chasing the dream, finding “second best,” and why it might just be better than the original plan.

With a fastball sitting 94–96 mph and touching 97, Ethan drew plenty of attention from MLB scouts, but the call never came. While that frustration could have ended many careers, Ethan’s path instead led him to unforgettable moments—like pitching in front of a packed house at Fenway Park—and ultimately to his current role as a popular baseball content creator on YouTube. In this conversation, Ethan opens up about the highs, the setbacks, and how he turned what felt like a “second best” into a fulfilling career in the game he loves.

Five years after graduating from college, Pete Saldaña had a good job, making good money, just bought a brand new car, but he wasn't happy. Then one day, he saw an Instagram post of a former college teammate who was playing baseball in Hungary and that was the first of many moments that set Pete off on an adventure of a lifetime which saw him play baseball in Austria, Australia, Czech Republic, Germany, and a the small Caribbean Island of Saint Martin while forming lifelong new friendships along the way. The craziest thing of it all, is that Pete hadn't touched a baseball or swung a bat since graduating. The cherry on top following Pete's adventure and experience gained within, is that he now lives his best life back in the U.S working in baseball.

Trent Saharek graduated from a small baseball college program out of Minnesota and desperately wanted to play baseball overseas. After registering for a membership at Baseball Jobs Overseas, he still struggled to receive an offer because he was an outfielder, which are not in much demand to import, and was from a small DIII program. Until one day, Trent made a tweak to his profile at the guidance of Jimmy, and the next day he received his first offer. He jumped on the opportunity and never looked back, playing multiple seasons overseas in Germany, Australia, and Belgium. What was the tweak to his profile that he made? What steps did he take as an outfielder to continue to receive offers? You will have to listen to find out. Also, you don't want to miss his story of making a comeback to European baseball years after hanging them up and creating his best baseball memory in the process.

If you would like to make overseas baseball a long-term career and lifestyle, we recommend taking a page out of Tim Brown's playbook. Since 2012, Tim has been traveling the world playing baseball, foregoing a promising independent professional baseball career for overseas baseball. Today at 37 years old, he continues to seek new adventures and new countries every season. To-date has played in Australia x 5, Austria, Argentina, Croatia x 2, Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain, New Zealand, Slovenia, South Africa, x 2 and Sweden. Most recently he spent a few months coaching in Egypt during the 2024-2025 off season and has now signed to play in France in 2025. In this episode, Tim shares with us why he has decided to make this a life choice and how he is able to continue competing at a high level. One thing for sure is that whenever the dust settles on Tim Brown's career, he will have made a major impact on the global game and fondly remembered by all those who were lucky enough to meet him.

 Fun fact: Tim is our longstanding active member and is now part of the BBJO staff.

After graduating from Holy Names University (NCAA II) with average numbers, Daniel Catalan discovered opportunities to continue playing baseball overseas. However, securing an offer proved challenging. Determined to keep his career alive, he took matters into his own hands—flying to Spain and walking on with a team. This was just one of many investments in himself that helped him climb the ranks, eventually leading to a role as a hitting coach in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. As of early 2025, Daniel is preparing for his second season with the CTBC Brothers—the reigning CPBL champions—turning his passion for baseball into a full-time career and living his dream.

Jeremy Guthrie shares his story of performing at the highest level in multiple sports while maintaining academics, passing up on the draft multiple times, stopping playing baseball and then returning to go on to become a World Series Champion, and his post MLB international baseball activities, including joining forces with BBJO.