Nakajima and Eric Chavez

Well the Yankees have announced that they failed to make a deal with Hiroyuki Nakajima and so he will go back to Japan for a year before being free to sign with a team next season as a free agent. The Yankees never expected to win the bidding on Nakajima and while they had a need on the bench they could not agree on the money. The Problem was likely that Nakajima wanted more money than he was making in Japan, but the Yankees wanted to pay him like he was a utility infielder. Some had suggested a sign and trade but obviously that did not work out. Nakajima could be released by his club to pursue a deal with another team but more likely he will just wait till next year. I was looking forward to Nakajima just because he would be something different, but it did not work out. With Nakajima going back to Japan the Yankees will likely look to resign Eric Chavez who they hope will be able to do what he did last year for them again this year, now that he is not retiring. The Yankees could also bring in a few guys to compete for the job in spring training much like they did last year. Chavez probably would have already signed a deal if the Yankees had not won the rights to Nakajima and I expect that the Yankees will sign him quickly. If Chavez does come back then this team will look almost exactly like it did at the start of last year with the only missing pieces being Joba and Bartolo.