Yankees Unable to Reach Agreement with Hiroyuki Nakajima

After a month of negotiations, the New York Yankees announced yesterday that they were unable to reach a contract agreement with Japanese infielder Hiroyuki Nakajima.  The Yankees won the bidding for Nakajima early last month, but sides weren’t able to agree on a deal.

New York surprised many when they were revealed as the winners of the Nakajima bidding.  The Yankees won the right to negotiate with Nakajima by posting a $2.5 million bid.

Some around the league expected the 29-year-old to compete for a starting role this spring, and the Yankees were set at both middle infield positions as well as third base.

The Yankees valued Nakajima as a player, but they viewed him as a backup.  Nakajima and his agent wanted to be paid as a starter.  This caused talks to remain far apart as the deadline approached, and numerous reports have surfaced in the last week stating the unlikelihood of the Yankees and Nakajima reaching an agreement.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman released a statement yesterday, letting fans know that New York “unfortunately could not come to an agreement” with Nakajima.

Since talks have fallen through, New York will have their $2.5 million winning bid returned to them, and Nakajima will have to head back to Japan for another year.  He will be able to hit the market next offseason as an unrestricted international free agent.

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