Nakajima Update
Update: And it’s the Yankees. I wonder if he’ll sign with them.
Only a quick update needed here — As expected, Seibu is going to accept the high bid for infielder Hiroyuki Nakajima. This is all over the Japanese media, but I’ll choose the Jiji Press’s brief writeup, which says that Seibu will file the paperwork on the 7th (JST) and the winning team will be made public within the same day.
So we don’t know the winning team or bid amount yet, though the Giants and Brewers have both clarified that they did not bid. So who might the winner be? My first three guesses would the Mets, the A’s, and the Rockies. But I’m not really up on the infield needs of most of MLB, so those really are random guesses.
06/12/2011 at 9:24 am Permalink
According to Bob Elliot, “Agent Don Nomura tweeted Monday of the Blue Jays’ interest in Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima of the Seibu Lions.” The Jays need a 2B and would probably prefer the 2 picks to Kelly Johnson staying, so who knows.
06/12/2011 at 9:54 am Permalink
Jays
06/12/2011 at 12:03 pm Permalink
Don’t be surprised if the Phillies placed the winning bid to give them negotiating leverage in their dealings with Jimmy Rollins and a backup plan in case a deal cannot be made.
06/12/2011 at 2:16 pm Permalink
Red Sox?
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/baseball/news/2011/12/07/kiji/K20111207002188830.html
06/12/2011 at 4:09 pm Permalink
Nope. http://twitter.com/#!/GordonEdes/status/144187237221937153
07/12/2011 at 5:39 pm Permalink
Why would you bid for a utility player? Then again it’s the Yanks. And Jeter is aging rapidly. But Nakaji probably can’t be an MLB shortstop, so what’s the point?
07/12/2011 at 5:53 pm Permalink
http://www.nikkansports.com/baseball/mlb/news/f-bb-tp2-20111208-873935.html
Ah ok, it was only a $2m bid that won it for the Yanks. And the contract should be lower than Nishioka’s. A cheap bet with some upside I guess.
07/12/2011 at 6:21 pm Permalink
Yeah, I actually like the deal in a lot of ways. I’ll try to write more later.
07/12/2011 at 7:44 pm Permalink
Is it possible that he will just go back to Japan? He might not get a very substantial offer.
07/12/2011 at 9:47 pm Permalink
Kyle — I’d say it’s possible. He’s a year away from free agency, so he’ll get another chance soon enough. I actually think he’s in a pretty decent situation though.
07/12/2011 at 9:58 pm Permalink
I did a brief radio interview on Nakaji this evening. The recap sums up my thoughts quite well: http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=41861
07/12/2011 at 10:30 pm Permalink
Little Matsui’s best years in the majors were as a part timer. There might be something to that. But man, the only NPB infielders to have some success playing every day in the majors are Iguchi and Jojima?
07/12/2011 at 11:07 pm Permalink
I don’t really consider catchers to be infielders, but yeah, kind of. Iwamura was respectable for his first two years, then got hurt and has never been the same. Matsui was okay at times (that one season with Colorado) but was never the star that I expected him to be. Then there’s Nishioka, who played without any confidence last year.
Overall we haven’t seen that many Japanese IFs in MLB. All of them have at least looked like they’ve belonged for at least some of their time, with the exception of Nishioka.
08/12/2011 at 12:50 am Permalink
Oh yeah, Iwamura was serviceable before the injuries took toll. Not very reassuring that playing IF every day breaks down even NPB stars who adapted to the majors. The MLB schedule, travel, and cultural adjustment probably takes a bigger toll than I used to think.