The New York Mets offered Japanese free-agent slugger Norihiro Nakamura a deal on the opening day of baseball's winter meetings Friday.
Norihiro Nakamura, who played the past 11 seasons for
the Kintetsu Buffaloes, has been offered a multiyear contract by the New York Mets, his agent said Friday.
Mets general manager Steve Phillips declined to comment but Nakamura's agent Masami Shigeta indicated that the National League club offered him a multiyear deal.
"A one-year contract would be out of the question. Japanese clubs have made lucrative offers, so I'll to try to pull it (the Mets offer) closer to those as much as possible," Shigeta said without giving details.
Baseball sources familiar with the situation estimate the Mets offer at somewhere between $4 million and $6 million over two years.
The Mets are the first major-league team to make an offer for Nakamura, whose desire to play in the majors has left inconclusive his talks with the Hanshin Tigers and Kintetsu Buffaloes.
Both clubs offered him six-year deals worth over 3 billion yen in a bid to obtain the services of the 29-year-old third baseman, who spent the last 11 seasons with the Buffaloes and has won the Pacific League RBI title twice.
On Tuesday, he met with Phillips at Shea Stadium during a weeklong trip to the United States with his family and agent.