[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
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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 |
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 |
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 $$$ they are paying Youkillis.
Unreal. As a Rakuten fan, this is just a sad, huge waste of $$$.
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…
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.
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.