Nikkan Sports: Rakuten Eagles have reportedly signed Andruw Jones
by Gen on Dec.08, 2012 @ 2:26 pm, under NPB
According to a report by Nikkan Sports, the Rakuten Eagles have agreed to terms with thirty-five-year-old Andruw Jones. The contract is reportedly a one-year deal worth a total 300 million yen (includes performance bonuses). The deal will be officially announced pending the results of a physical.
Source: Nikkan Sports 12/8/2012
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UPDATE @ 12/9 @ 4:47pm - Nikkan Sports has posted the following comment from Jones:
All I can say is that I am excited. This gives me [a chance] at a fresh start. More than anything, I can not wait to play in games every day. It is unfortunate, but the last five years I had to be content with being a back-up player. I could not get a lot of plate appearances and I could not put up the kind of numbers I wanted to. It was a dilemma I was struggling with. I am confident I can put up good numbers if I can get 500 plate appearances a year. Batting average, home runs, it is all about playing on a regular basis and getting into a good groove. Defense is the same thing. I want playing time and the Eagles turned to me. I have been to Japan three times for baseball. I am looking forward to playing in Sendai.
Source: Nikkan Sports 12/9/2012
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Career Stats
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB |
| 1996 | 19 | ATL | NL | 31 | 113 | 106 | 11 | 23 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 29 | .217 | .265 | .443 | .709 | 47 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | 20 | ATL | NL | 153 | 467 | 399 | 60 | 92 | 18 | 1 | 18 | 70 | 20 | 11 | 56 | 107 | .231 | .329 | .416 | .745 | 166 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| 1998 | 21 | ATL | NL | 159 | 631 | 582 | 89 | 158 | 33 | 8 | 31 | 90 | 27 | 4 | 40 | 129 | .271 | .321 | .515 | .836 | 300 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| 1999 | 22 | ATL | NL | 162 | 679 | 592 | 97 | 163 | 35 | 5 | 26 | 84 | 24 | 12 | 76 | 103 | .275 | .365 | .483 | .848 | 286 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| 2000 | 23 | ATL | NL | 161 | 729 | 656 | 122 | 199 | 36 | 6 | 36 | 104 | 21 | 6 | 59 | 100 | .303 | .366 | .541 | .907 | 355 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 2001 | 24 | ATL | NL | 161 | 693 | 625 | 104 | 157 | 25 | 2 | 34 | 104 | 11 | 4 | 56 | 142 | .251 | .312 | .461 | .772 | 288 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 3 |
| 2002 | 25 | ATL | NL | 154 | 659 | 560 | 91 | 148 | 34 | 0 | 35 | 94 | 8 | 3 | 83 | 135 | .264 | .366 | .513 | .878 | 287 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| 2003 | 26 | ATL | NL | 156 | 659 | 595 | 101 | 165 | 28 | 2 | 36 | 116 | 4 | 3 | 53 | 125 | .277 | .338 | .513 | .851 | 305 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| 2004 | 27 | ATL | NL | 154 | 646 | 570 | 85 | 149 | 34 | 4 | 29 | 91 | 6 | 6 | 71 | 147 | .261 | .345 | .488 | .833 | 278 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| 2005 | 28 | ATL | NL | 160 | 672 | 586 | 95 | 154 | 24 | 3 | 51 | 128 | 5 | 3 | 64 | 112 | .263 | .347 | .575 | .922 | 337 | 19 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| 2006 | 29 | ATL | NL | 156 | 669 | 565 | 107 | 148 | 29 | 0 | 41 | 129 | 4 | 1 | 82 | 127 | .262 | .363 | .531 | .894 | 300 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| 2007 | 30 | ATL | NL | 154 | 659 | 572 | 83 | 127 | 27 | 2 | 26 | 94 | 5 | 2 | 70 | 138 | .222 | .311 | .413 | .724 | 236 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 4 |
| 2008 | 31 | LAD | NL | 75 | 238 | 209 | 21 | 33 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 76 | .158 | .256 | .249 | .505 | 52 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2009 | 32 | TEX | AL | 82 | 331 | 281 | 43 | 60 | 18 | 0 | 17 | 43 | 5 | 1 | 45 | 72 | .214 | .323 | .459 | .782 | 129 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 2010 | 33 | CHW | AL | 107 | 328 | 278 | 41 | 64 | 12 | 1 | 19 | 48 | 9 | 2 | 45 | 73 | .230 | .341 | .486 | .827 | 135 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2011 | 34 | NYY | AL | 77 | 222 | 190 | 27 | 47 | 8 | 0 | 13 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 62 | .247 | .356 | .495 | .851 | 94 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | 35 | NYY | AL | 94 | 269 | 233 | 27 | 46 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 71 | .197 | .294 | .408 | .701 | 95 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Totals | 2196 | 8664 | 7599 | 1204 | 1933 | 383 | 36 | 434 | 1289 | 152 | 59 | 891 | 1748 | .254 | .337 | .486 | .823 | 3690 | 192 | 97 | 6 | 71 | 69 | |||
Damn, that’s a huge signing. 126 OPS+ in 2011 in the AL, 10-time gold glover. Wow. If he’s got anything at all left in the tank, he’s going to be huge for them.
Excited to see how he’ll do, especially for Rakuten. He’s a long ways removed from when he was an absolute stud outfielder, but I could see him putting up some good numbers as a DH.
Wow….this is RISKY and can’t believe my Eagles actually did something of this much controversy. Jones is very overweight and I am just wondering how much he has left in the tank.
He has a bunch of power, but will likely strike out a ton. I’ll be an optimist, and hope that he is a bit better than the likes of Luis Garcia and Jose Fernandez.