Not sure if this has been posted anywhere, but MLBTR is reporting he will go up for post soon. He is a 26 year old SS, and is reported to be the 2nd best hitter in all of Japan. Not sure how his glove is. I wonder what his price tag will be? Could he be the stopgap we need until the Hamilton/Torreyes/Gregorious calvary arrives in 3-4 years? Would he be a significant upgrade to Cozart?
Probably an unlikely scenario, but the Reds have surprised us before with international signings.
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I'd at least take a look-see.
Remember that we'll save a lot of money picking at the end of rounds in the draft than in the beginning.
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True, but I would think that a (hypothetical) signing like this would come out of the Major League budget.Originally Posted by 11larkin11
I'm still surprised that there hasn't been more buzz about any international amateur signings, but that belongs on another forum.
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Since international sales of team merchandise are not centralized and shared among the clubs, it would be a wise move for the Reds if the scouts think he can contribute on the field.
Eh, we will save 1-1.5M. That isn't real savings that is going to make or break a team.
Yeah, seemed like the Reds considered Chapman their international splurge this last season (with good reason(. Maybe it will be Nakajima this year. If he can olay a decent major league SS and hit leadoff, ir would be an upgrade. It would also free Cozart to sweeten a deal if needed,
I have a feeling he'll end up in the West Coast somewhere.
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From Dave Cameron today:
Based on a conversation I had this morning, there’s apparently a name I left out of last week’s second baseman candidate post that could be a real possibility for the Mariners – Hiroyuki Nakajima. The shortstop is reportedly going to ask the Seibu Lions to post him so he can make a move to Major League Baseball next year. And, according to what I was told this morning, the Mariners are interested.
Nakajima is not an Ichiro/Matsuzaka kind of player where his posting will be a big deal stateside. The comparison I got was Taadahito Iguchi, and the price is expected to be similar – maybe a couple of million for the posting fee (Aki Iwamura, the only infielder ever posted from Japan, fetched $4.5 million), and then a short term, lower money contract. If he performed like Iguchi did in Chicago, it could be a huge bargain.
Nakajima is a shortstop in Japan, but some reports say he might profile better at second base. His experience at SS certainly wouldn’t hurt, though, and he could potentially shift across the bag if the team moved Jack Wilson once Dustin Ackley was ready. He’s a line drive gap hitter without big power, but he uses the whole field and could be a decent doubles guy. He doesn’t walk a lot, but as Patrick Newman of the great NPB Tracker pointed out, walks and strikeouts are both lower in Japan than in MLB, so that could change when he gets to the US.
If he can handle the transition from turf to grass and play some solid defense, he projects as a potential league average player. He turns 29 next summer, so he should have a few good years left in him. I’d say he’s certainly more interesting than a lot of the names we talked about last week, and he might not be much more expensive. Toss in the potential ability to play shortstop, and you can see why the M’s are apparently interested.
Just another name to tuck away for the winter. Should be an interesting offseason.
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I'll take the Mariners' portion out of play for a moment, as Cameron seems to be a little geared toward them, but it's not very flattering that the "IFs" he used equal league average player. Doesn't seem like the upside worth the hassle, if I'm being honest.
Of course, perhaps a league average shortstop is better than what's likely available through free agency, but I'm not sure it's worth the posting.
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
Other than Ichrio and Hideki Matsui, it seems like most imports from across the Pacific never play to their hype or end up being worth the money paid to acquire them.
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http://twitter.com/npbtracker/status/27963725048
http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/news/...0435000-n1.htm (for those of you who know Japanese)
He probably won't be posted.
I know nothing about Nakajima other than what has been already included in this thread, but I am not too excited for a shortstop who may profile better at second who has no power and doesn't take any walks. The SS market is thin, but I would prefer to go with Janish and then use that money for Greinke.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl...asakka01.shtml
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