[12/21/2013] Rakuten Eagles sign Kevin Youkilis to one-year deal

by Gen on Dec.21, 2013 @ 11:41 am, under NPB

The Rakuten Eagles have reportedly signed Kevin Youkilis (34) to a one-year deal worth four million US dollars plus one million in incentives, according to reports out of the United States.

From ESPN's Jerry Crasnick:

Kevin Youkilis has agreed to a one-year contract with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan for the 2014 season, his agent confirmed Friday.

Youkilis will have a $4 million base salary and can earn $1 million in bonuses -- including some based on walks, a provision not allowed in major league contracts.

... Bick said Youkilis, his wife, Julie, and their two children, ages 7 and 1, plan to spend the 2014 season together in Japan.

"Kevin's intent is to play one more year," said Bick, although he wouldn't rule out Youkilis playing beyond the 2014 season.

Source: ESPN 12/21/2013 (And thanks to everyone that e-mailed me the story)

[UPDATE @ 2:35pm]

The Eagles have posted an announcement of the agreement.

Source: official announcement

Most of the reports in Japan put the value of the contract at an estimated total 300 million yen.

Source: Sanspo 12/21/2013, Sponichi 12/21/2013, Nikkan Sports 12/21/2013

===

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
2001	22	BOS	A-,A	64	276	195	52	60	14	2	3	28	4	3	73	31	.308	.504	.446	.950	87	0	6	0	2	0
2002	23	BOS	A+,AA,A	135	603	481	84	149	31	0	8	80	5	6	93	63	.310	.436	.424	.860	204	6	21	0	8	4
2003	24	BOS	AA,AAA	126	549	421	83	120	26	1	8	52	7	1	104	61	.285	.441	.409	.849	172	9	18	0	6	4
2004	25	BOS	AAA,A-	40	185	158	26	44	13	1	3	18	2	0	21	28	.278	.370	.430	.800	68	1	3	1	2	1
2004	25	BOS	AL	72	248	208	38	54	11	0	7	35	0	1	33	45	.260	.367	.413	.780	86	1	4	0	3	0
2005	26	BOS	AAA	43	194	152	30	49	15	1	8	27	1	2	35	29	.322	.459	.592	1.051	90	0	5	0	2	0
2005	26	BOS	AL	44	95	79	11	22	7	0	1	9	0	1	14	19	.278	.400	.405	.805	32	0	2	0	0	0
2006	27	BOS	AL	147	680	569	100	159	42	2	13	72	5	2	91	120	.279	.381	.429	.810	244	12	9	0	11	0
2007	28	BOS	AL	145	625	528	85	152	35	2	16	83	4	2	77	105	.288	.390	.453	.843	239	9	15	0	5	0
2008	29	BOS	AL	145	621	538	91	168	43	4	29	115	3	5	62	108	.312	.390	.569	.958	306	11	12	0	9	7
2009	30	BOS	AAA	2	7	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.000	.143	.000	.143	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	30	BOS	AL	136	588	491	99	150	36	1	27	94	7	2	77	125	.305	.413	.548	.961	269	9	16	0	4	6
2010	31	BOS	AL	102	435	362	77	111	26	5	19	62	4	1	58	67	.307	.411	.564	.975	204	4	10	0	5	3
2011	32	BOS	AAA	2	9	8	2	2	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	.250	.333	.625	.958	5	0	0	0	0	0
2011	32	BOS	AL	120	517	431	68	111	32	2	17	80	3	0	68	100	.258	.373	.459	.833	198	14	14	0	4	3
2012	33	BOS	AAA	4	14	11	1	4	2	0	0	1	0	1	3	4	.364	.500	.545	1.045	6	0	0	0	0	0
2012	33	TOT	AL	122	509	438	72	103	15	2	19	60	0	0	51	108	.235	.336	.409	.745	179	10	17	0	3	2
2012	33	BOS	AL	42	165	146	25	34	7	1	4	14	0	0	14	39	.233	.315	.377	.692	55	4	4	0	1	0
2012	33	CHW	AL	80	344	292	47	69	8	1	15	46	0	0	37	69	.236	.346	.425	.771	124	6	13	0	2	2
2013	34	NYY	AA	2	6	5	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	.200	.333	.200	.533	1	0	0	0	0	0
2013	34	NYY	AL	28	118	105	12	23	7	0	2	8	0	0	8	31	.219	.305	.343	.648	36	4	5	0	0	1
MLB Totals				1061	4436	3749	653	1053	254	18	150	618	26	14	539	828	.281	.382	.478	.861	1793	74	104	0	44	22
MiLB Totals				418	1843	1437	279	429	101	5	31	208	19	13	332	218	.299	.442	.441	.882	633	16	53	1	20	9

Tags: Foreign Interest, Full, Kevin Youkilis, Rakuten Eagles

4 comments on “[12/21/2013] Rakuten Eagles sign Kevin Youkilis to one-year deal”

muratafan December 21, 2013 at 1:03 pm

Horrid signing. At least Youkillis can get on base, but maybe Rakuten thinks they can get lightning in a bottle twice: somewhat overweight, MLB third baseman with some pop. Alas, McGehee was 30 going on 31 when he signed with Rakuten and was only 2 seasons removed from a very good year with the Brewers. Youkillis is 34 going on 35 and will be 35 on opening day and hasn’t played a full year in over 4 years.

ALL FOR FOUR MILLION $’s a year?

And Rakuten did NOT get Standridge OR Dae Ho Lee or Wakui or anybody else of worth. They could have gotten Dae Ho Lee for the $$$ they are paying Youkillis.

Unreal. As a Rakuten fan, this is just a sad, huge waste of $$$.

Reply ↓
1. Steve Novosel December 22, 2013 at 2:24 am
  
  I’m nodding my head in agreement. It stinks of desperation, to be honest. As you mention, Lee Dae Ho – 5 years younger, proven PL producer – was available for that.
  
  If they do end up posting Tanaka finally this team will be very poor in 2014…
  
  Reply ↓
IM December 22, 2013 at 4:17 am

A lot of similarities to the Andruw Jones signing last year. AJ got $3.5 mil.
Lee may have been a better option and clearly Youkilis is past his prime, but he not some 4A player he was a legitimate MLB star until a couple years ago.
Good or bad, it’s only a one year deal.

Reply ↓
1. muratafan December 22, 2013 at 5:44 am
  
  I guess the old saying ‘there’s no such thing as a bad one-year deal.’ But, WHEN Rakuten COULD have gotten either Standridge or Dae Ho Lee…..then it is still a very, very bad deal.
  
  If you look at Youkillis’ quote it becomes pretty apparent that this was solely about the $$$. At least McGehee wanted to prove himself.
  
  Reply ↓

[12/21/2013] Rakuten Eagles sign Kevin Youkilis to one-year deal

4 comments on “[12/21/2013] Rakuten Eagles sign Kevin Youkilis to one-year deal”

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