It’s complicated, but Otani extension a

This has to happen, right? That’s the obvious reaction to the news on Monday night that the MLB Players Association extended a soft deadline regarding a new agreement with Japanese Baseball that would allow Shohei Otani to come over here and play in the states next season.

As a team executive put it, “If the Babe Ruth of Japan wants to play over here, we’d look like idiots if we couldn’t find a way to make it happen.’’

The executive paused then and said, “But obviously it’s not that simple. This thing is complicated.”

At the very least, the 24-hour extension, until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, would seem to indicate progress as negotiations are continuing. And obviously that’s great news for the Yankees, who many baseball people believe to be the favorite to sign Otani — and not because of their money, in this case.

That’s what makes this situation so fascinating. Because he’s not yet 25, the MLB collective bargaining agreement severely limits his earning power, no matter which team signs him, which means Otani will be picking a team based on some type of personal preference.

But because he wants to hit as well as pitch, American League teams are believed to have an advantage, since it would be much easier for a team to allow Otani to hit as a DH than expose him to injury playing the outfield on days he’s not pitching.

And because he won’t be earning hundreds of millions, there is also a belief the famous Yankee brand, which is well-known in Japan, is a factor in terms of what it could mean in endorsement money for Otani.

In any case, there is such a curiosity about the rarity of a two-way player that his arrival would be great for anyone connected to Major League Baseball.

However, as the exec said, there is a lot going on behind the scenes. And no less significant, the Players Association doesn’t bend easily on such matters — in this case the Nippon Ham Fighters getting a $20 million posting fee when Otani will be signing for $3.5 million maximum.

Were Otani willing to wait two years until he’s 25, he’d be the subject of a huge bidding war that would surely make him worth even more than the $155 million Masahiro Tanaka signed for to play with the Yankees.

By coming over now, he’s limited to what teams have to spend in their international draft pools, and as such the Players Association doesn’t think it’s fair that Otani’s team in Japan should still get the $20 million posting fee that was standard in the now-expired agreement between the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization and MLB.

And as the team executive reminded me on Monday night, you only have to look back to the Alex Rodriguez-to-theRed Sox trade for proof the Players Association is willing to take an unpopular stance in the name of its principles.

A-Rod, remember, wanted out of Texas desperately at the time, in 2004, and to play for the Red Sox he was more than happy to cut significant salary from the