Hiroyuki Nakajima, shortstop/infield, Saitama Seibu Lions
If Nakajima’s name sounds familiar, that’s probably because he was posted last offseason, and his negotiating rights were won by the Yankees. Nakaji and Bombers failed to agree to a contract, so he hopped in his Ferrari and headed back to the Lions for another year, and put up a healthy .311/.382/.451 slash line. His batting average might have led the Pacific League had Lotte not gutlessly pitched around him on the last day of the season, but instead he ended up one point behind Katsuya Kakunaka. His OBP ranked second in the Pacific League, and his slugging pct was fourth, and well ahead of the next middle infielder. In the field he seems to make the play he gets to, but has lost some range, and the consensus is that he’s probably not a full-time MLB shortstop.
Anyway, now Nakajima is back on the market as a free agent. I was a big fan of the idea of Nakaji in New York, acclimatizing himself to MLB while getting 300 or so at-bats spelling Derek Jeter at SS and Alex Rodriguez at 3B, but obviously that didn’t come to fruition. There were other MLB teams interested in Nakajima last time around, so I think there is little doubt he’ll find an MLB deal this year, but it will remain to be seen what kind of role he winds up in….
Hideki Okajima, relief pitcher, Softbank Hawks
You guys remember Okajima. After the Yankees terminated his contract last year (that’s two nearly-Yankees Jima’s this list), Okie signed with Softbank and had a strong year, not allowing an earned run until August. He’s angling for an MLB return this offseason.
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1. Chris Fluit Posted: October 31, 2012 at 09:54 AM (#4289125)If that's the case, Nakajima might be the best second baseman on the free agent market. Who's ahead of him? Jeff Keppinger coming off a career year at 32? Kelly Johnson? I guess it's probably Marco Scutaro unless teams are still looking at the playoff whirling dervish as a shortstop. I know my favorite team (the Orioles) could use an upgrade at second and they might have some money to spend.
Because the track record for Japanese 2B making the transition is SO GOOD.
In a sample of four, I see one total failure, one relative failure, one break-even, and one success. That's not a good track record, but I don't think it's enough to say that NPB middle infielders should be avoided forevermore. I'd say it all pretty much depends on the evaluation of the individual player, rather than of the population.
The problem, of course, is that the dead ball also adds in another level of uncertainty. We already know there are qualitative differences between the NPB game and MLB (mostly having to do with how power translates), but now there could be even more qualitative differences in play with run-scoring at a historically low ebb.
I want a Ferrari that can drive from New York to Japan. That would be fun speeding across the pacific, can't imagine any cops would be there to slow you down, especially in international waters. Until you run out of gas, or encounter pirates.
And in a few years, he'd have awesome trade value as an expiring contract.
Kaz Matsui at least introduced the concept of "anal fissures" to American baseball fans. So in one sense, he was the Japanese George Brett.
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