The Yankees aren’t likely to sign Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima by Friday’s 4pm CDT deadline, one person with knowledge of the situation told Marc Carig of the Star Ledger. The Yankees see Nakajima as a bench player and intend to pay him like a backup, Carig reports on Twitter.
In theory, the Yankees have until Friday evening to sign Nakajima. However, they’d have to complete a physical by that point, so there’s not much time remaining. The 29-year-old hit .297/.354/.433 with 16 home runs and 27 doubles in 633 plate appearances for the Seibu Lions in 2011. Legacy Sports represents him in the U.S.
The Yankees won the rights to Nakajima with a bid in the $2MM range last month. If the sides don't agree to terms, Nakajima would stay in Japan and the Yankees wouldn't have to part with the posting fee. If the Yankees don’t sign Nakajima, Eduardo Nunez’s role becomes clearer and the chances of a new deal with Eric Chavez would likely increase.
They’ll get 28 with or without him
Haha, good one!
You must be a rangers fan
There are many teams better than them. I’ll take the Angels, Rangers (if they sign Darvish), the Red Sox if they’re healthy, and possibly the Rays depending on any offensive additions they make.
I guess the rangers and sox are close to them.The angels have an average at best offense, as do the rays, and both teams have a weak bp. The yankees sox and rangers all have a similiar sp staff.
The only thing the Angels have that is better than the Yankees is their rotation, the Yankees offense is still better than theirs, even with the addition of Pujols, and the Yankees bullpen is way better than that of the Angels.The Rangers are still very good, but until Darvish pitches a full season in the MLB (if he signs), he’s a nobody. The Red Sox are all hype, and they have more problems in their rotation than the Yankees do, plus even though they added Bailey and Melancon, they still are weaker in the bullpen without Papelbon, Bard, and Aceves. The Rays offense is average at best, and their bullpen is also a question.
I wouldnt say darvish is a nobody but it cant be said that he is better than wilson
Well technically Darvish is a nobody…..isnt signed and hasnt really proven anything…..Hideki Irabu was the “Nolan Ryan of Japan” came here and did nothing…..Daisuke, he still is a member of The Red Sox right? CJ Wilson is grossly overrated……and funny as it sounds….AJ Burnett is a better postseason pitcher than Wilson….Anaheim overpaid…..
Im sure burnett had better postseason stats than verlander doesnt really mean anything. EVen if wilson was overrated which he wasnt the rangers cant replace his production from last year which most probably means the yankees have the better staff.
Too many ?’s with that rotation….Can AJ Burnett have a decent season (12-14 wins and a 4-4.50 era) Can Nova do it again? Will Phil Hughes ever become the pitcher from a few seasons back? Can Garcia make it through a full season? Can Sabathia stop eating EVERYTHING?
So in other words the yankees have 4 question marks the rangers have 5.
I wouldnt say darvish is a nobody but it cant be said that he is better than wilson
Nothing going on in Flushing that you put your 2 cents in on a Yankee thread?
There are many teams better than them. I’ll take the Angels, Rangers (if they sign Darvish), the Red Sox if they’re healthy, and possibly the Rays depending on any offensive additions they make.
I can’t remember the last offseason when I heard the words “The Yankees aren’t likely to sign…” so many times.
I do.. When they went into the ’87 season with the these grandiose plans of Joel Skinner as the starting catcher.. Georgie even publicly announced it when Richie Gedman was a FA that year and was an obvious upgrade..
Next thing happened was this thing called collusion.. had to be to stop a Steinbrenner from buying their way out of a 4th place finish.
87?? How bout as recent as 92?? Barry Bonds was poised to sign with the Yankees until that “mystery” team came out of nowhere with that 44 million dollar deal….happend to be San Francisco at a time when they had one foot on the plane headed to Tampa. They were in dire straits with finances and “VOILA” they came up with that cash for Bonds…..How about Greg Maddux, he just drove up his price tag on Atlanta by using the Yankees…..We were still signing retreads like Pascual Perez and making moves for Rich Dotson and Mike Witt (who was a Yankee for 3-4 seasons, I swear he was!) If it wasnt for Jimmy Key signing here and then the Jim Abbott acquisition and the Kelly for O’Neill trade things wouldve been very different in the 90’s.
2012 is what they are waiting for….Cain or Hamels and hopefully the emergence of Banuelos or Betances and this team all of a sudden is in very good shape…..envision the 2012 rotation shaking out like this
1. CC Sabathia
2. Cole Hamels
3. Ivan Nova
4. Phil Hughes
5. Manny Banuelos/Dellin Betances…….
now all of a sudden by eliminating Freddy Garcia and AJ Burnett, that rotation doesnt seem horrible…..too many “what if’s” though
Well last week there were reports that the Yankees and Andruw Jones weren’t close to a deal, and 2 days later he signed with them. I think the Yankees will end up signing him, but if he doesn’t I have no seeing Chavy come back
isn’t a player like Nakajima tradeable? Assuming of course that another team values him more than NY, is there a rule against the team that wins the posting trading his rights?
Because the Yankees won the bid with only $2m, I don’t think too many teams are interested in him.
What happens to the sign and trade? I guess those talks went no where.
Well this is the thing you guys arent seeing and I will agree with some of the aforementioned comments……The Angels are slightly better than The Yankees simply because they have a better rotation…..Haren,Weaver, Santana, Wilson are a better quartet (for now) than what the NYY can throw out there although CC is probably better than each one of those pitchers. Texas……The Rangers can possibly be better if Hamilton can stay healthy. Cruz is your typical streaky power hitter, Young is getting older, and Kinsler……eh. The Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees are mirror images of each other…..look at how both teams are built….the scale tips in the Yankee favor if you focus on the bullpens……Funny how no one mentions Detroit….Detroit right now has the best pitcher in baseball, one of the top 3 hitters in baseball and a dynamite suporting cast…..if they can find a legit 2/3 starter, this team is just as good as anyone….and The Rays?? until they get a new park or a new city, that team is destined to be what they are….they will NEVER win….Toronto is poised to leap frog Tampa in that division…..Blue Jays have the WEALTHIEST owner in sports and are looking to burn some canadian sheckles and thats the advantage they have over Tampa.