Not as an immediate replacement, but I see him as the long-term successor to either Iwata or Miyamoto. Iwata was the president of Hal Labs when Yamauchi picked him as Nintendo's future president. Sakurai worked at Hal Labs with Iwata, and sort of took over for Iwata when he moved up, though I don't know whether Sakurai became Hal's president. I think Iwata sees a bit of himself in Sakurai. The two seem to have some sort of friendship, as well, and although Sakurai left Nintendo in 2003, Iwata personally approached him to ask him to direct the production of Smash Bros Brawl. I see it as only a matter of time before Sakurai officially reunites with Nintendo -- but as the reason he left Nintendo was due to his disapproval of the company's software management, I think he would require a higher position of authority to be persuaded to return.
