The Texas Rangers were among 13 major-league teams that assigned a scout to observe potential free agent Shohei Otani's return to the mound Thursday in the Japan Pacific League.

Joe Furukawa, the club's coordinator of Pacific Rim operations, attended the start at the Sapporo Dome, home of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. Furukawa was seated next to New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.

In May, Rangers general manager Jon Daniels went to Japan to watch Otani's rehabilitation workouts. The Rangers, with pro scouting director Josh Boyd as the point man, have establishhed a good relationship with Otani.

Andrew Friedman, the Los Angeles Dodgers' president of baseball operations, recently made the same trip to watch Otani.

Otani, 23, had not pitched since July 21 because of ankle and thigh injuries. He opened with three scoreless innings and had a top velocity of 99 mph. Otani lost command in the fourth, allowing four runs while getting only one out in the inning.

"My arm action was good," Otani told reporters. "It was a small step forward from my last time. If I look only for perfection, then I'll never get there. But at this stage, it was a good outing."

Otani, a right-hander, has kept busy as a designated hitter. He is hitting .342 with a .950 OPS, but his homer output has dropped from 22 in 104 games last season to five in 45 games this year.

Otani could be posted as free agent after each of the next two seasons. If Otani takes that step, he would sacrifice a significant amount of money.

Under the current collective bargaining agreement, a player under 25 years old coming from a foreign league is subject to international bonus rules. That means the best deal Otani could get would be for around $10 million. Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish received a six-year, $60-million deal when he signed with the Rangers before the 2012 season.

The CBA is also very specific about prohibiting side deals that promise lucrative contracts in the future for foreign players.