Hiroyuki Nakajima

Nakajima was posted after the 2011 season, but he was unable to come to agreement with the Yankees and he returned to Japan. He returned to the Lions for 2012 and hit .311/.382/.451. That is not an eye-popping line, but the batting average was one point off the league lead, the OBP was second by a wider margin and his slugging percentage ranked fourth. In the field, Nakajima led the Pacific League in putouts and was second in assists, while committing 18 errors. Despite his solid numbers at the plate and in the field, the MLB establishment does not seem quite sold on Nakajima as an MLB starter. There is some sound reasoning for this: we have yet to see a Japanese shortstop stick in MLB, Nakajima's power projects as pretty low for an MLB third baseman and learning second base at the MLB level is a tall order. The A's will give him a look as a potential regular at shortstop this season after signing him to a two-year deal in December.