6:32pm: GM Brian Sabean confirmed the Giants did not submit a bid for Nakajima, according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News (on Twitter).
9:52am: The report of the Giants submitting a bid on Nakajima is not accurate, tweets John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle.
9:21am: The Giants appear to have submitted a bid for Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, tweet Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The posting period ended a few days ago, and we learned previously that the Seibu Lions are expected to accept the high bid regardless of the amount. Nakajima hit .297/.354/.433 with 16 home runs and 27 doubles in 633 plate appearances for the Lions in 2011 and is represented by Legacy Sports.
The Giants have a void at shortstop, having used Brandon Crawford, Miguel Tejada, Mike Fontenot, and Orlando Cabrera at the position in 2011.
Meh, don’t pay to much.
“The posting period ended a few days ago”
It takes them this long to figure out what the biggest number is?!
Well yeah… they have to translate those numbers into Japanese.
It’s very complicated… you wouldn’t understand.
Rofl
Rofl
And supposedly there was only ONE bidder…..
Wow! This is surprising! Hopefully it turns out well!
Considering the insane deals Reyes got and Rolling is probably gonna get, this may end up being a good way to go to get a decent hitting SS.
Hope he does better than K. Matsui (played with the Mets, Rox, and Astros) and the shortstop the Twins picked up.
He’s been more consistent than Nishioka was; and he managed to put up that slash line with the new MLB-style ball that NPB switched to this season, which sent offense and power down across the league. Given that, I’m fairly confident he’ll make the transition.
thanks Nate! Good analysis
yeah but japanese pitchers were throwing the ball, not big league pitchers
Does anyone know when they announce who won the bid?
Supposed to be today.
Hopeing he was going to go to the Rays. Then we could add Reid Brignac and Sean Rodriguez to some trade packages to get something of value at 1B/DH.
Sabean needs to learn from what the A’s learned last year many players don’t care about posting fees they want it all. Any bid over $20 million means a deal will m ost likely not get done.
WOW…
If not too expensive I would welcome this… If he can do half the stats he did overseas it would be better than what we have had the last couple of years.
If you cut his stats in half you’d have Jeff Mathis as your shortstop Lol
Got my hopes up people!!
I’ll never understand why the Giants won’t tap into the Japanese market in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Because the players usually suck when they get here.
Still, SS is the weakest position for the Giants, Nakajima would be better than anything they put out there last year and most likely better than anything they’ll put out this year.
Besides ichiro and matsui there isnt much credibility from that market. They are strong in marketing anyway
Figures
Rays? I have no idea who else it could be…
Hoping the Braves are the ones who did bid. They could use some MLB-ready shortstop depth to put pressure on Pastornicky to win the job out of spring training and/or shore up the infield utility bench spot.
There is only one team that is so secretive in what they do.. My guess: The Rays