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

[Baldkin]

It what world is Miller Park not a launching pad. He makes it seem like they are expecting Aoki to hit 20 HRs in the 50 games.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor

 

MP is 10th or lower in Runs and HRs. The only thing its really a launching pad for is 3B.

[tigerbrew]

Wow, didn't expect this, I like it.

 

I am very much in favor of the Brewers signing Aoki, his batting style is similiar to Ichiro. His BA and OBP has been consistently good.

 

I am glad that DM has been interested in getting Asian players. There was Tomo Ohka, Takashi Saito and now hopefully Norichika Aoki. This makes it that much more interesting to watch Brewers games for me.

[monty57]

I'd rather trade Nyjer.

 

I think that's the most likely option. If Braun beats the suspension, trade Morgan now. If Braun is suspended, my guess is that we will start next year with Aoki in LF, Morgan/Gomez in CF and Hart in RF. Once Braun is back, we'll look to trade Morgan and move Aoki into CF. If Morgan continues to play predominantly against RHP, then he should be able to put up decent numbers, and someone in need of a CF should be willing to trade something for him. Mid season, it would likely be a prospect. Of course, as I mentioned earlier a lot can happen in the first two months of the season which could change this.

 

Things are falling into place nicely, as Aoki gives us a decent option for a leadoff hitter. A lineup of Aoki, Hart, Braun, Ramirez, Weeks, Gamel, Lucroy, Gonzalez, pitcher looks pretty good to me.

[TooLiveBrew]

Right now I'm actually just loving the depth this team has. I'm in no hurry to see Morgan traded, but agree that if you can maximize his value you go for it.

 

Even if Braun has to serve a 50-gm. suspension, how can you not love the OF of Braun/Plush/Aoki/Gomez/Hart?

[clancyphile]

Right now I'm actually just loving the depth this team has. I'm in no hurry to see Morgan traded, but agree that if you can maximize his value you go for it.

 

Even if Braun has to serve a 50-gm. suspension, how can you not love the OF of Braun/Plush/Aoki/Gomez/Hart?

I'd trade Plush - sell high - and have both Schafer and Gindl up.

 

LF: Braun

CF: Aoki

RF: Hart

Schafer - 4th OF

Gindl - LF/RF/1B

Gomez - 5th OF

[reillymcshane]

Right now I would think Aoki would be a nice player to have - especially if Braun gets the 50 game suspension.

 

He can handle LF for the first 50 games of the year.

 

After that, you assess how Gamel is doing at 1B, and how the Morgan/Gomez CF platoon is doing, and how any injuries are affecting the team.

 

If Morgan is having issues (which some people seem to worry about - I'm not, as long as he plays only against righties), Aoki moves over to CF.

 

If Gamel is not looking like the answer at 1B, you can move Braun or Hart to 1B and play Aoki at a corner spot. (You could also move Ramirez to 1B and let Green start at 3B - but that's another story.)

 

Also, if everyone is playing well after the first 50 games, you can use one of the players as a trade chip to fill other needs.

 

Finally, don't forget about injuries. Braun missed about 10 games last year. Hart about 30. Morgan and Gomez both went on the DL.

 

Knowing the answer to Braun's appeal would be really nice. But having a good player - even if you don't have a spot - is a nice problem to have. Especially if the price isn't too high.

[TooLiveBrew]

Finally, don't forget about injuries. Braun missed about 10 games last year. Hart about 30. Morgan and Gomez both went on the DL.

 

This is the main reason I love the depth. That, and because an NL team can always find a way to use another good bat, like you noted at the end of your post.

[chuckiehacks]

The only thing I don't like about adding Aoki as another outfielder, is that we still have no bench power. Are we really going to go into another season with Kottaras as our late inning power threat off the bench?

[homer]

I don't think Melvin has ever traded high on a guy who wasn't about to be a big money free agent. I would love for him to trade both Wolf and Plush but I fear he won't let go of either one.

[jerichoholicninja]

I think we all need to stop wishing Braun or Hart to 1B. As the roster stands now if Gamel flops Ishikawa will be the first baseman or Ramirez.

[gregmag]

Several people have talked about playing Aoki in (I'm paraphrasing) "one of the corner OF spots." If he supposedly doesn't have the arm for CF (which I agree shouldn't necessarily preclude playing him there), he certainly doesn't have the arm for RF, right? His only possible positions are LF and CF.

 

At those projected numbers, I love him as a 4th of / challenger to Plush. I'd trade Plush for a good return of something we needed, because the sell-high thing has a lot of merit if you can pull it off. But from a pure baseball standpoint, I'm happy to have him. I would love to have that array of OFs. Bench power doesn't worry me; I'd rather have bench guys who don't make lots of outs, and with a little luck Green and Gindl will bring more power off the bench than we had last year.

[Bnowell4evr]

Several people have talked about playing Aoki in (I'm paraphrasing) "one of the corner OF spots." If he supposedly doesn't have the arm for CF (which I agree shouldn't necessarily preclude playing him there), he certainly doesn't have the arm for RF, right? His only possible positions are LF and CF.

 

At those projected numbers, I love him as a 4th of / challenger to Plush. I'd trade Plush for a good return of something we needed, because the sell-high thing has a lot of merit if you can pull it off. But from a pure baseball standpoint, I'm happy to have him. I would love to have that array of OFs. Bench power doesn't worry me; I'd rather have bench guys who don't make lots of outs, and with a little luck Green and Gindl will bring more power off the bench than we had last year.

The problem with trading Morgan is that we don't have a lot of needs anymore. I'd rather keep Morgan than trade him for a reliever, utility if'er or a rh compliment to Gamel. I guess I could change my mind if we could get a reliever that was 8th inning quality.

[RockCoCougars]

Morgan has more value to the Brewers than he does on the trade market. I doubt that he'd bring back much in a trade, largely because of his reputation as a flake at best -or a cancer at worst.

[TooLiveBrew]

Are we really going to go into another season with Kottaras as our late inning power threat off the bench?

 

I have the same concern, but I think it's still a little early to worry about that.

[monty57]

The problem with trading Morgan is that we don't have a lot of needs anymore.

 

We have a fairly weak farm system. I'd guess that if we trade him mid-season (after the potential Braun suspension), we would probably get a prospect in return, and I'm fine with that.

 

Morgan has more value to the Brewers than he does on the trade market. I doubt that he'd bring back much in a trade, largely because of his reputation as a flake at best -or a cancer at worst.

 

If Meltdown Bradley continued to get jobs with his antics, teams would take on Morgan. The Milwaukee fans' reaction to last year's antics probably helped his case a lot... teams like selling merchandise, and the T Plush merchandise was hot in Milwaukee last season. If he continues to put up decent numbers, which he should if Roenicke continues to use him correctly, he should be very tradeable once Braun returns.

[Baldkin]

The only thing I don't like about adding Aoki as another outfielder, is that we still have no bench power. Are we really going to go into another season with Kottaras as our late inning power threat off the bench?

Considering last year it was Mark Kotsay, any of Kottaras, Green, or Aoki would be an improvement.

[clancyphile]

Several people have talked about playing Aoki in (I'm paraphrasing) "one of the corner OF spots." If he supposedly doesn't have the arm for CF (which I agree shouldn't necessarily preclude playing him there), he certainly doesn't have the arm for RF, right? His only possible positions are LF and CF.

 

At those projected numbers, I love him as a 4th of / challenger to Plush. I'd trade Plush for a good return of something we needed, because the sell-high thing has a lot of merit if you can pull it off. But from a pure baseball standpoint, I'm happy to have him. I would love to have that array of OFs. Bench power doesn't worry me; I'd rather have bench guys who don't make lots of outs, and with a little luck Green and Gindl will bring more power off the bench than we had last year.

Gindl probably is the power bat:

17 HR in 112 games in Brevard County... 15 HR in 126 games in Nashville.

 

That sounds an awful lot like 20 HR power over a full major league season - so, use Gindl as the backup corner OF and 1B.

 

Gindl and Schafer can backup the outfield, but I wouldn't mind finding a replacement for Hairston as a back-up SS/2B/3B/OF for Nyjer Morgan. I just don't want to be stuck with an imploded Morgan.

[mothershipconnection]

his batting style is similiar to Ichiro

 

They kind of all bat like that over there. Does anyone know the origin or reason for the popularity of that hitting style? I watch quite a few Japanese games, and it seems like everyone pulls off the ball as they swing.

[The Truth]

Gindl probably is the power bat:

17 HR in 112 games in Brevard County... 15 HR in 126 games in Nashville.

 

That sounds an awful lot like 20 HR power over a full major league season - so, use Gindl as the backup corner OF and 1B.

I'm a huge Gindl fan, and I think he has the potential to be truly something special, but he's only 5'9", I doubt he'll ever play 1B

[cvollbrecht]

his batting style is similiar to Ichiro

 

They kind of all bat like that over there. Does anyone know the origin or reason for the popularity of that hitting style? I watch quite a few Japanese games, and it seems like everyone pulls off the ball as they swing.

I think its mostly to get that extra step towards first base to try and leg out a infiled hit/stretch in 2B's. Its the same reason a lot of RH'd batters will push a bunt to the 1st base line to try and get a bunt hit. They are starting their momentum early to get an extra step towards the bag.

 

 

[monty57]

Gindl probably is the power bat:

17 HR in 112 games in Brevard County... 15 HR in 126 games in Nashville.

 

That sounds an awful lot like 20 HR power over a full major league season - so, use Gindl as the backup corner OF and 1B.

 

If we start the season with Aoki in LF, Morgan/Gomez in CF and Hart in RF, then I agree that Gindl would make a good 5th OF. I'd prefer that to the $800k vet Melvin usually picks up for that role. The only problem I see with it is that Roenicke would never play the rookie, so when Hart or Aoki needs a day off, Roenicke would play Morgan in RF/LF with Gomez in CF. Over the 50 games, Gindl would probably see 15-20 PAs. In the likely event that he doesn't put up good numbers in 15-20 PA's over two months, people will say that he can't hit MLB pitching, and isn't really a prospect (see Gamel, Mat).

[RobertR]

If Braun's suspension holds, I'd think that you'd want to split the playing time between Aoki and Gindl to see what you have out of both of them. Ichiro-light could be Juan Pierre with less speed. If the Brewers had signed Juan Pierre, would people be making all these future plans?

 

Robert

[theavrock]

I see the Juan Pierre thing all the time and I don't get it at all.

 

Aoki will likely not be Juan Pierre. If you want someone to compare him to think Fukudome although Aoki was a better, more consistent hitter than Fukudome was and is a better fielder.

[monty57]

Juan Pierre's career line is .296 avg / .345 OBP / .363 SLG / .708 OPS. He's not worth some of the big contracts he was given, but he's not as bad as the reputation he seems to have. If the OBP = 1.5 SLG formula is correct, he's fairly valuable.

 

I'd be pretty happy if we could pick up a guy for a couple million a year who gets on base 35% of the time or so and play decent CF defense (albeit with a weak arm). Yeah, I'd love to have .800+ OPS guys who hit 20+ HR all over the field, but that's not realistic. Most teams can use a guy who gets on base 35% of the time with some speed at the top of the order.

 

I guess I'm kind of seeing Aoki as a Nyjer Morgan who can hit lefties as well as righties, has a little higher average and plays a little better defense. He fits a need while Braun is out, and is an upgrade over Morgan when Braun's back, at which time Morgan will be expendable, so hopefully we can get something of value back in trade. I don't think Melvin expected to win the bidding war, but since we did, it's worth doing some due diligence to see if we can improve our team relatively cheaply.

[endaround]

Fukudome had serious power in Japan, Aoki doesn't.

Aoki is a downgrade from Morgan, not sure how people can see otherwise.