Brewers win negotiating rights to Japanese OF Norichika Aoki for $2.5 million. Latest: signs 2-yr deal

[thumperden]

I hope they can close the deal for Aoki. on time. The Brewers need another on-base guy at the top of the order. Weeks has been miscast as a leadoff hitter for too long. He belongs as a #5 hitter in the lineup because of his extra base power. Aoki would be a fantastic #1 or #2.

[thumperden]

Okay, it's after 4pm already. Curiosity is killing this cat.

[KCBrewerfan34]

I hope they can close the deal for Aoki. on time. The Brewers need another on-base guy at the top of the order. Weeks has been miscast as a leadoff hitter for too long. He belongs as a #5 hitter in the lineup because of his extra base power. Aoki would be a fantastic #1 or #2.

 

Fantastic? Is this guy that good?

[dpapo]

Adam McCalvy is reporting that the Brewers have signed Aoki to a 2 year deal.

"The Brewers have signed Japanese outfielder Norichika Aoki to a two-year contract with a club option for 2014. More details to come at Brewers.com"

 

http://brewersbeat.mlblog...s-an-option/

 

Edit: Haudricourt is adding that it's a 2 year deal, plus a club option.

[theavrock]

Very nice to see. Looking forward to seeing him in action.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I like this signing. Just wanna see the dollar figures now. He'll be introduced at Brewers On Deck on January 29.

[thumperden]

I'm excited by the possibilities Aoki brings to the table. I think he'll keep defenses guessing at least for a little while...bunt, slap hit, pull, go the other way, not to mention his abilities on the base paths. Throwing arm not withstanding, I think he's going to be appreciated in Milwaukee for all he does.

[brettac1]

I hope he is able to do all of that stuff. I think it's way too early to expect it, though. It's so hard to project Japanese League performance into MLB.

[umphrey]

Well whatever happens they did a lot of good things. They brought him in for a workout first, they gave him an incentive laden deal, they didn't bid a crazy amount. Not many teams that post can say that.

[brettac1]

Definitely. It was a well-orchestrated gamble.

[AdvantageSchneider]

This just isn't the type of thing to do to a person. If you didn't think you were going to "pursue signing Aoki," then don't post a bid. Aoki made the tough decision to uproot his whole life and play in America, and now there's a good chance he'll have to wait a year just because Melvin decided on a whim to post an offer he probably wasn't going to act on. To throw a little salt on the wound, they made him fly all the way to Arizona for a tryout, which apparently won't factor much into the ultimate decision. There's nothing Aoki can do about it, because that's the way the system's set up, but not a good way to treat a person.

Time for an apology now?

[MVP2110]

I like this move and love the club option part, assuming the finances arent totally crazy. If he does end up becoming a solid player having him for 3 years will be awesome. looks like our outfield is set for the next 2 years, including backups

[endaround]

The club option part is just weird. He's Brewer property once he signs his contract. If the Brewers don't pick up the option do they automatically DFA him?

[dadofandrew]

As with all club options, the player will be a free agent.

 

EDIT: I assume the thought is he would still be under team control, being Aoki will only be in his 3rd year. I would assume it is written into the contract that if the option is declined, Aoki is to be released, and would be a free agent.

[danzig6767]

Does anyone know how Aoki hits vs lefties?

 

I ask because if Braun were to get suspended 50 games, with a lefty starter on the mound, Morgan has to be on the bench. If Aoki also struggles/struggled vs lefties, then who starts in LF with a lefthander starting?

 

Not only that, Melvin in the radio interview did mention that they would consider playing Hart at firstbase for roughly 30 games if Gamel were to struggle vs lefties. So if hypothetically Gamel did start out poorly vs lefties and thus Roenicke/Melvin did decide to play Hart at first when a lefty was starting, that would leave Gomez as the only righthanded bat among the outfielders currently on the roster if Braun was gone.

 

It would seem that Melvin would be wise to scour the unemployed righthanded outfielder market and at the very least try to get one or two on an non-roster invite to spring training deal. If not, could say Brenden Katin be an option for the first 50 games at least if Braun were to get suspended?

[PrinceEatMeat]

Does anyone know how Aoki hits vs lefties?

Found his splits through 2010. .328/.373/.438. Having 2011 in there would make a difference, but looks like he hits RHP and LHP just about equally as well.

[Invader3K]

It will be interesting to see what the finals numbers on his contract are. I do like the insurance he will hopefully provide if Braun is indeed suspended for 50 games.

[monty57]

This just isn't the type of thing to do to a person. If you didn't think you were going to "pursue signing Aoki," then don't post a bid. Aoki made the tough decision to uproot his whole life and play in America, and now there's a good chance he'll have to wait a year just because Melvin decided on a whim to post an offer he probably wasn't going to act on. To throw a little salt on the wound, they made him fly all the way to Arizona for a tryout, which apparently won't factor much into the ultimate decision. There's nothing Aoki can do about it, because that's the way the system's set up, but not a good way to treat a person.

Time for an apology now?

No, I will still attest that a team shouldn't post a bid without any intention of pursuing the player. I said Melvin normally bends over backwards to make sure players don't feel slighted, so I thought his comments seemed very out of character for him, and I was therefore surprised at his comments. Obviously, his "we'll see if we're interested in pursuing Aoki" comment was a smokescreen, and they had all intentions of at least "pursuing" him, which is good, because I feel the Brewers just added a talented player to a relatively inexpensive contract with only two guaranteed years.

 

We're obviously a better team with Braun in the lineup, but at least now we should have two guys at the top of the order (Aoki & Morgan) for the first 50 games who can get on base at a decent clip in front of Hart, Ramirez & Weeks. This also allows Gamel to "get his feet wet" in the 6 or 7 spot instead of adding pressure by putting him in the 5 hole, where he would be expected (at least by the public & the media) to drive in a lot of runs.

[joepepsi]

I don't want to underestimate the loss of Prince, but this looks like a better team than this time last year.

[RobDeer 45]

Things are shaping up nicely.

[JohnBriggs12]

Does anyone know how Aoki hits vs lefties?

 

I ask because if Braun were to get suspended 50 games, with a lefty starter on the mound, Morgan has to be on the bench. If Aoki also struggles/struggled vs lefties, then who starts in LF with a lefthander starting?

 

Not only that, Melvin in the radio interview did mention that they would consider playing Hart at firstbase for roughly 30 games if Gamel were to struggle vs lefties. So if hypothetically Gamel did start out poorly vs lefties and thus Roenicke/Melvin did decide to play Hart at first when a lefty was starting, that would leave Gomez as the only righthanded bat among the outfielders currently on the roster if Braun was gone.

 

It would seem that Melvin would be wise to scour the unemployed righthanded outfielder market and at the very least try to get one or two on an non-roster invite to spring training deal. If not, could say Brenden Katin be an option for the first 50 games at least if Braun were to get suspended?

Even if he were healthy (and he's not) how is Katin an option? He's a soon to be 29 year old minor league FA (no longer Brewer property) that's never sniffed the major leagues. Other than being Braun's college teammate I don't get the love.

 

There's still some veterans out there like Burrell, Gomes, Thames, and Nady that actually have accomplished something at the major league level.

[MVP2110]

I have a question that I've been thinking quite a bit about lately. Why did we win the posting fee? We don't have a scout in Japan. Plenty of teams do, yet none of them decided to post any higher than us? to me thats a red flag. Not to be a downer, I still like the move.

[Invader3K]

I think part of it ia that there aren't a lot of teams really lacking in good outfielders right now.

[rwa12]

I think we won the posting fee because most people can find their 4th and 5th OF without having to pay for negotiating rights.

[Patrick425]

Did I miss it or has there still been no details on the terms of the contract yet? Kind of odd. Even if the Brewers have not officially released the numbers, there is usually some reporting source that is able to get this information a head of the official release.