🗞️ Did press reports cost the Mets Norihiro Nakamura?

Hello fellow Mets fans! Welcome to today’s edition of “Almost A Met.”

We’ve been focusing on more recent “what-ifs” for the past few weeks, so I thought I’d dig back further today.

I looked into how the Mets and Japanese star Norihiro Nakamura were very close to finalizing a deal. There’s a… unique reason it never ended up happening. Scroll down to find out what it was.

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Let’s get into it.

Andrew Wyrich

Steve Phillips loved splashy moves. We’ve covered it quite a bit in this newsletter. So after striking out on trying to acquire Japanese superstar Hideki Matsui (yes, you better believe I’ll be covering this in the future), he set his sights on another Japanese slugger in late 2002.

Enter Norihiro Nakamura.

In an effort to replace fan-favorite 3B Edgardo Alfonzo, the Mets were looking at Nakamura’s undeniable power as a way to supplement the lineup.

The then 28-year-old was coming off a monster season in Japan. During the 2002 season, he hit 42 HRs, had 115 RBIs, batted .294, and had an OPS of .997. He also was coming off his second straight season of 40+ HRs, and his fifth straight season of hitting 30+ HRs.

It’s clear why Phillips was interested in bringing in that kind of potential power to the Mets.

Oh, did I mention Nakamura’s epic bat flips? Yeah, they are pretty cool. (I don’t know how they would have played in the stuffed up nature of MLB at the time, but today they’d be going viral every single day.)

The Mets interest in Nakamura started at the end of the 2002 season.

To recap, the 2002 Mets had struggled mightily after being a trendy pick to win the World Series after acquiring the likes of 1B Mo Vaughn, 2B Roberto Alomar, OF Jeromy Burnitz, and LF Roger Cedeno. (Not to mention trying to add to that list).

We all know that didn’t work out. They ended up finishing 75-86.

The day after the season ended the New York Post reported that the Mets would be looking at Japanese players to help “fix their broken roster.” In fact, Assistant GM Gary LaRocque spent two weeks in Japan and “filed positive reports” on Nakamura and SS Kazuo Matsui.

About two weeks later, Mets officials gathered to “determine whether to offer a contract” to the third baseman, according to the New York Times. But the team was also exploring other options, including making a big trade with the Montreal Expos.

The Mets and Nakamura had met and he toured the Mets facilities at Shea Stadium. By all accounts, he was impressed.

“They have great facilities,” Nakamura said, according to ESPN. “They have a medical clinic in the stadium, and you can really see the difference between major league ballparks and Japanese ones.”

Phillips called their December 2002 meeting “good” and added that the team and player “got to know each other.”

“I told him we’d be back to him in a couple of days. He’s got to assess what he wants to do. He has decisions to make,” ESPN reported Phillips saying.

Soon, reports would surface that Nakamura was looking at several multi-year deals in Japan worth $30 million.

The Mets, however, reportedly offered $7 million over two years.

Nakamura was also apparently willing to take less money to play in the MLB, as the New York Times reported at the time, and the Mets were the “only team” he visited in the U.S.

On December 20, 2022 the New York Post reported that the deal was “almost wrapped up.”

But things were about to change.

There was a specific reason that the deal fell apart, according to Nakamura — his signing being leaked to the press.

Before it was officially said, rumors began to circulate that the deal was falling apart. John Harper of the Daily News reported that the team was aware of Japanese outlets reporting that Nakamura decided to return to Japan. The Mets were “anxiously awaiting” any official word.

“We don’t know what’s going on,” a Mets source said.

Nakamura felt that reports of his signing coming out before he informed the teams in Japan of his decision “broke the rule” and eroded trust with the Amazin’s.

“The Mets broke the rule,” Nakamura said, according to the Daily News. “I asked them not to leak the story (he had committed to them) to the media until I informed Kintetsu and Hanshin of my decision. I don’t trust the team which broke the rule.”

In response, Phillips played it straight.

“We had an agreement in principle with the player,” Phillips said in a statement, according to the Daily News. “He changed his mind after successfully completing a physical. We respect his decision and wish him nothing but the best of luck.”

Nakamura would stay in Japan and sign a 5-year deal with the Kintetsu Buffaloes.

Some scouts believed the fallout “might have done the Mets a big favor,” according to the Daily News. As there were concerns about Nakamura being able to adjust to major league pitching and catching up to fastballs in a different league.

Around the same time, the Mets agreed to a four-year deal with OF Cliff Floyd (a personal favorite of mine) and turned their attention to other ways to replace Alfonzo.

“Despite Mr. Nakamura’s decision, today was a productive day for the Mets’ organization,’‘ Phillips said, as ESPN reported at the time.

Instead of making a free agent splash like 3B Bill Mueller or 3B Jose Hernandez, the Mets opted to stick with prospect 3B Ty Wigginton to take over the hot corner.

And let’s face it: Even if Nakamura was half of the player he was in Japan, he wasn’t going to move the needle for the disastrous 2003 Mets that finished 66-95.

Eventually, Nakamura would make it to the MLB after several seasons in Japan where his offensive numbers declined from the heights they were before his flirtation with the Mets.

Ahead of the 2005 season he would sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an attempt to fill the void created when 3B Adrian Beltre left.

It didn’t go very well. Nakamura would play in just 17 games for the Dodgers.

Given his offensive decline, perhaps some scouts were right that the Mets dodged a bullet. But this is an interesting piece of “what-if” Mets history given just how close things seemed to be.

Refer a friend

Would have signed Nakamura to a 2-year deal for $7 million?

Next newsletter we’ll share the results of the poll! So stay tuned.

Last newsletter’s answers: 67% of Almost A Met readers said they wouldn’t have traded Starling Marte for Hunter Harvey, while 33% said they would have.

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