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http://www.torontosun.com/2011/12/05/ja ... ese-player

Nomura, who represented Hideo Nomo, Hideki Irabu and other Japanese players, wrote in Japanese: “I heard that the Blue Jays won the posting for Nakajima. Is it true? I could be wrong.”

MLB should be announcing the winning bid today or tommorrow. We also heard from other sources that Seibu was gonna accept the bid no matter how low it was, they're desperate to sell him.

meh

not a bad flier for a second baseman i suppose, if this is true

Oh boy....

I hope KJ comes back I don't like our alternatives unless we sweeten the pot for Prado

Yeah, I hope some way Johnson is back as well..

Sure, because it worked out so well for the Twins last year....oh wait.

I guess AA was working on a fall back option if Johnson turns down arbitration as expected.

It could be an adventure but you never know.

OldNo7 wrote:Sure, because it worked out so well for the Twins last year....oh wait.

My first thought too... but I don't mind this move. I trust this org to properly evaluate talent and there's not much risk involved.

His numbers in Japan appear to be a lot more consistent than Nishioka who the Twins got last year.

Nishioka had one large outlier year in Japan he got signed off of where his batting average was much higher than his other years.

Nakajima looks much more consistent, seems to have ok power (albeit most Japanese players have their power decline considerably coming over), and his OBP is excellent. If we get him, I could see this actually working out.

I wonder if Kelly Johnson hasn't already indicated that he won't accept arbitration. Perhaps, that's why AA and the Jays have been rumored in on Nakajima and Prado along with the acquisition of Valbuena.

raptorforlife88 wrote:His numbers in Japan appear to be a lot more consistent than Nishioka who the Twins got last year.

Nishioka had one large outlier year in Japan he got signed off of where his batting average was much higher than his other years.

Nakajima looks much more consistent, seems to have ok power (albeit most Japanese players have their power decline considerably coming over), and his OBP is excellent. If we get him, I could see this actually working out.

Anthopolous did indicate that they're looking for high OBP guys, right?

He did, but i am hoping he gets those players who have done it before at the major league level.

There's not much info here, and the guy admits the transition to MLB is tough to predict, but: http://www.npbtracker.com/tag/hiroyuki-nakajima/

One of the top hitter's in Japan. MVP candidate. Fielding is apparently not great? Yeah, not much info there.

He mentioned several times in one piece that Japan switched to an offence-suppressing ball this season. Hm.

Nishioka was so bloody awful last year that it makes me question Japanese position players transition to MLB quickly. Unless this is meant to be a quad A signing, I question whether the money was worth it, rather than getting a proven MLB 2nd basemen like Barmes or Carrol.

Not understanding the hate for this possible move. If Nakajima could produce at a level that Akinori Iwamura did for the Rays for three seasons, that would be great.

Graham's Cracker wrote:I wonder if Kelly Johnson hasn't already indicated that he won't accept arbitration. Perhaps, that's why AA and the Jays have been rumored in on Nakajima and Prado along with the acquisition of Valbuena.

There's absolutely no reason for Kelly Johnson to accept arbitration. If the Jays want him, they'll have to pay him what he's worth on the open market.

But how lucrative is the open market for Johnson? He can collct 6m next year and hope he has a better season to raise his value. Not quite sure how much he can really cash in right now to be honest.

rarefind wrote:But how lucrative is the open market for Johnson? He can collct 6m next year and hope he has a better season to raise his value. Not quite sure how much he can really cash in right now to be honest.

Why wouldn't it be lucrative? Teams don't have to give up a pick to sign him anymore and he's by far the best 2B available.

Doesn't make sense to have Nakajima as a backup with Vallubuena already here, so seems to me that one of the two will be our opening day starter at 2B.

I think that Rogers thinking on this is something like "You're telling me that we can get 70% of KJ's production for 20% of his salary? Get 'er done!"

Kurtz wrote:Doesn't make sense to have Nakajima as a backup with Vallubuena already here, so seems to me that one of the two will be our opening day starter at 2B.

I think that Rogers thinking on this is something like "You're telling me that we can get 70% of KJ's production for 20% of his salary? Get 'er done!"

If we're signing Nakajima, there's little question that it would be as a starter. The Jays wouldn't spend significant money on a backup.

Randle McMurphy wrote:

rarefind wrote:But how lucrative is the open market for Johnson? He can collct 6m next year and hope he has a better season to raise his value. Not quite sure how much he can really cash in right now to be honest.

Why wouldn't it be lucrative? Teams don't have to give up a pick to sign him anymore and he's by far the best 2B available.

Still have my doubts that teams will give Johnson anything great at this point. He has struggled for the last couple of seasons.

But agreed, with us getting Nakajima I strongly doubt that KJ accepts.