Yankees officially break off talks with Hiroyuki Nakajima

NEW YORK (Kyodo) — The New York Yankees said Thursday that their negotiations with Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima have ended without a contract. “We unfortunately could not come to an agreement with Hiroyuki,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said in a statement issued by the team. “We wish him the best of luck during the upcoming 2012 season.”

The announcement comes a day before the end of the Yankees’ exclusive 30-day negotiating window with Nakajima. Under the rules of the posting system, the Yankees’ modest winning bid of $2.5 million will be refunded since no deal was struck and Nakajima will return to the Seibu Lions.

Nakajima was disappointed to learn he won’t be wearing pinstripes, but remained upbeat. The 29-year-old slugger will be eligible for free agency later this year. “It’s disappointing we couldn’t work something out,” Nakajima said. “But I’m grateful to the Lions for posting me and the Yankees for bidding.”

Nakajima is a four-time Pacific League All-Star with a .302 career batting average over 10 seasons, all with the Lions. He appeared in all 144 regular-season games in 2011, batting .297 with 16 home runs and 100 RBIs. One Pacific Rim, major league scout said Nakajima’s chances of signing with the Yankees were likely hurt by the dismal season that Minnesota Twins infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka had in 2011.

Nishioka was posted by the Lotte Marines last winter and joined the Twins as the PL batting champion for the Japan Series champions, but finished his first year in Minnesota with a .226 average and just two stolen bases in 68 games. Only five of his 50 hits went for extra bases, all doubles. “I think Nishioka’s poor season affected the appraisal of all Japanese infielders,” the scout said.

Also, Nakajima made 280 million yen with Seibu last season, a salary the Yankees, who are actually trying to keep their payroll down, likely did not match for a player they wanted as a backup for the likes of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano.

via Baseball: Yankees officially break off talks with Nakajima – The Mainichi Daily News.