New York Yankees unable to sign Japanese star Hiroyuki Nakajima – MLB News
As all other Major League Baseball teams, the New York Yankees are also preparing for the next season and taking some steps forward to strengthen their current roster.
In order to bring more experience and talent in their 40-man roster, the Yankees earlier have commented in the media as they are pursuing Japanese short-stop Hiroyuki Nakajima after obtaining the bidding rights with a $2 million posting fee.
Now reports are coming that the Yankees have failed to convince Hiroyuki and his agent to play for their franchise as they pulled out from negotiations.
Yankees’ general manager Brian Cashman confirmed issuing a statement released by the club saying, “We unfortunately could not come to an agreement with Hiroyuki. We wish him the best of luck during the upcoming 2012 season.”
Later, Nakajima also said, “It's disappointing we couldn't work something out. But I'm grateful to the Lions for posting me and the Yankees for bidding.”
For many, it was somewhat a surprise as speculations were far different than the reality. Fans of the Yankees were pretty happy as their team looked serious to show some good results next season. While looking at Nakajima’s stats and especially his .310
hitting average in five seasons with his franchise Seibu Lions of the Japan Pacific League, certainly was enough for all these die hard Yankees fans to understand how significant he can be for the team.
Not only is Hiroyuki’s game very strong but he can be playing alongside as backup to Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano.
Earlier this week, some inside MLB sources have also speculated in the media that Nakajima alone is a collective choice in Japan and his franchise want to establish him as a future prospect for the national team instead of trading him to the Yankees.
However, the Yankees still have some time left to add some potential free agents in their roster before the start of the 2012 MLB season. They might have failed to convince Hiroyuki to play in the MLB but there are still many players left in the free agency
market who will love to play for a top Major League team like the New York Yankees.
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