LOS ANGELES (Kyodo) Naoya Washiya, who was selected by the Washington Nationals in the 14th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball first-year player draft, has signed a contract with the club, team sources said Tuesday.
The 20-year-old will make his debut with the Gulf Coast Nationals in the minor rookie league.
Washiya, a member of the 2005 Japanese high school baseball championship-winning Komadai Tomakomai of Hokkaido, enrolled at College of the Desert in California in the fall of 2007.