Hiroyuki Nakajima is one of the top shortstops in Japanese baseball, possibly even the best at the moment. A versatile infielder with a good bat and a slick mix of power and speed, Nakajima would seem to have the tools necessary to carve out a niche for himself in the major leagues.
Nakajima may well turn out to be a solid major leaguer, but we'll have to wait and see, since Friday's news that he couldn't agree on a contract with the New York Yankees means he'll spend 2012 with the Seibu Lions.
Nakajima will get his shot in MLB eventually. The real impact of the situation is that it further highlights the fallacies of the posting system, which also failed Hisashi Iwakuma last year.