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

[ilovebeer]

Jsonline is reporting is that the Brewers and Aoki have exchanged proposals.

[umphrey]

Deadline to sign is tomorrow at 4pm

[patrickgpe]

i think its a good insurance policy to sign him. the problem is even if Braun is not suspended, the OF power off of the bench is non-existence with Aoki and Gomez or Morgan as the 2 primary backups. Combined with the lack of other power off of the bench, it could be a concern.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I'm thinking he won't end up signing. My guess is that Melvin submitted a one-year proposal that he won't budge from, and Aoki's camp wants a 3-year deal. Melvin will likely move on to someone else.

[thumperden]

So, if Mr. Melvin says he's looking at other outfield options, that doesn't necessarily look like they'll sign him will they? If so, I wonder whom they're looking at. There's plenty of outfield help available, but at what price? Brad Hawpe, for example got $6 million from San Diego last year and had a down year.

[TooLiveBrew]

I'd be fine with Hawpe. Good buy-low guy.

[thumperden]

Coincidentally, Brad Hawpe's closest player comparison on www.baseball-reference.com is Corey Hart. Hart made $10,000,000 last year. Hart also is 4 years younger.

I don't think it'll take $6,000,000 to sign Hawpe. I'm not saying trade Hart, but there are cheaper and comparable alternatives that could be made as a side note to make room for another guy like Aoki.

[TooLiveBrew]

Hawpe's also a really bad defender though. I thought you meant Hawpe as a bench LH bat.

[brettac1]

Wasn't Hawpe supposed to be close to signing a minor league deal with someone? I think it's up in the air that he can play OF anymore. He seems like a 1B/DH guy now.

[jerichoholicninja]

So with the Yankees not signing their Japanese player and it not looking good for the Brewers, what effect do you think this will have on future Japanese players. Obviously the Darvish's of Japan will still try to come here but what if even he doesn't sign? Who does that say more about, the Japanese players or the American teams?

[thumperden]

Was Hawpe injured the last couple years? I thought he had a gun for an arm in right field.

[thumperden]

Jericho, I think it speaks more of the posting system than anything else. It's not an optimal system for the Japanese players. It's not designed to be. It completely benefits the Japanese team owners. Money money money!

[Invader3K]

Haudricourt has a tweet from today saying that a Japanese media source told him he thinks the Brewers will indeed sign Aoki.

[Madtown343]

Its not my money and the more players that have something to bring to the table the better. Schafer/Gindl could use the work at AAA either way to maybe play a role later in 2012 or in 2013.

[MVP2110]

I hope its true we sign him. I expect a decent avg/obp guy which would be great in late innings when we need base runners

[brettac1]

They need guys that can get on base, period. Hopefully he can do that.

[KCBrewerfan34]

How much does the cash strapped downtrodden organization have LOL

[TooLiveBrew]

Its not my money

 

If you buy tickets or merchandise, you're absolutely contributing to the funds used to sign players. Mark A. isn't just cutting personal checks http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

I look forward to seeing some of Aoki.

[Invader3K]

I believe deadline to get this deal done is 4 PM CST.

[brettac1]

Haudricourt says they are "close".

[markedman5]

JonHeymanCBS Jon Heyman

aoki deal with #brewers is multiyear. #crew

38 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply »

JonHeymanCBS Jon Heyman

aoki, japan league batting champ, will be a brewer. just finalizing things. #crew

[Madtown343]

I wonder if Krod at 8M allowed them to up this deal?

[Bombers]

I wonder if Krod at 8M allowed them to up this deal?

I would imagine it helped. I like this move

 

[umphrey]

If Hart plays some 1B it's going to be weird watching an outfield of Aoki - Gomez - Morgan

[brettac1]

They should cover a ton of ground, even if two of them can't throw.