Headlines

  • Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin
  • Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury
  • Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib
  • Tucker Barnhart To Retire
  • Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline
  • Reds Release Jeimer Candelario
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Andruw Jones Re-Signs With Rakuten Golden Eagles

By Steve Adams | January 8, 2014 at 9:24am CDT

Former Major League All-Star Andruw Jones has re-signed a one-year deal with Nippon Professional Baseball's Rakuten Golden Eagles, according to a report from Nikkan Sports (Japanese link). Rakuten has since announced the deal's value at 400 million Yen, or roughly $3.8MM. Jones is represented by agent Scott Boras.

Jones played for the Golden Eagles last season alongside new Marlins third baseman Casey McGehee and the offseason's hottest commodity, Masahiro Tanaka. In 604 plate appearances with Rakuten, Jones batted .243/.391/.454 with 26 home runs. He struck out in more than 27 percent of his plate appearances but also walked at a whopping 17.3 percent clip (in addition to getting hit by 15 pitches).

The 36-year-old last appeared in the Majors with the Yankees in 2011-12. After a strong .247/.356/.495 batting line in his first season with the Bombers, Jones slipped to .197/.294/.408 in 2012, prompting him to sign in NPB the following offseason. In parts of 17 Major League seasons, Jones batted .254/.337/.486 with 434 home runs and won 10 consecutive Gold Glove awards from 1998-2007.

MLB Daily Dish's Chris Cotillo reports that Jones drew interest from two Major League clubs but elected to return to Japan. Jones will play the 2014 season alongside fellow former All-Star Kevin Youkilis, who signed a one-year deal with Rakuten this offseason as well.

Share 0 Retweet 47 Send via email0

Transactions Andruw Jones

Tigers, Iglesias Agree To One-Year Deal
Main
Marlins Re-Sign Kevin Slowey
View Comments (14)
Post a Comment

14 Comments

  1. MB923

    11 years ago

    Jones and Youk from Yankees to Golden Eagles. Tanaka from Golden Eagles to Yankees? Ehh I’m about 50/50 on it. I think Tanaka goes to either NY or Seattle.

    Reply
    • Rally Weimaraner

      11 years ago

      Maybe NYY can send Wells and Ichiro to the Golden Eagles too

      Reply
    • DerekJeterDan

      11 years ago

      Rakuten has had many former Yankees — Soon to be Kevin Youkilis next year. But last years roster off the top of my head had Casey McGehee, Andruw Jones, and Darrell Rasner as well. Pretty interesting to see the connection.

      Reply
      • MB923

        11 years ago

        Oh my I forgot McGhee last played for the Yankees before he went to Japan.

        I completely forgot about Darrel Rasner though

        Reply
        • DerekJeterDan

          11 years ago

          Same here! Had no idea about what happened to Rasner until reading up on Tanaka and Rakuten.

          Reply
  2. Rally Weimaraner

    11 years ago

    The Golden Eagles have become the retirement home for former Yankees.

    Reply
    • Ruben_Tomorrow

      11 years ago

      Which is interesting when you think about it, because the Yankees are seen as the retirement home for big leaguers.

      Reply
      • MB923

        11 years ago

        Mehh, most of their old players tend to sign a deal elsewhere after they leave NY – Matsui, Damon, Ibanez, Giambi, and Chavez to name some.

        I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ichiro do the same thing after next year.

        Reply
      • Rally Weimaraner

        11 years ago

        Like all senior services there are different levels of care, assisted living, retirement home, nursing home ect… The Golden eagles are a step beyond the NYY. Instead of just getting a short porch and hitter friendly home park member of the Golden Eagles get to feast on low level pitching talent.

        Reply
      • Lionel Bossman Craft

        11 years ago

        The Yankees aren’t even the oldest team.

        Reply
  3. MaineBaseball

    11 years ago

    It’s a shame that Jones regressed this much and at the age he did because he could have been a solid Hall of Fame candidate. Imagine if he had hit around 40 home runs a couple more times?

    Reply
    • LazerTown

      11 years ago

      Yep, he was on the fast track to cooperstown. I remember even thinking he had a very good shot at 700 hr. He completely fell apart before he was 30, and he still has over 400 hr. terrific cfer too in his prime.

      Reply
      • Tko11

        11 years ago

        Are you sure hes natty? A decline like that can very well be because of the absence of a certain substance. I suppose you can question any power hitter in that era though…

        Reply
    • ChicksDigTheLongBaII

      11 years ago

      I think Jones is a solid candidate in a Hall that already includes Andre Dawson. Their offensive stats are close, with very similar slash lines and almost identical home run totals. They both won one home run title and one RBI title each. Dawson was a bit better with the bat, but not by much.

      Defensively, same thing but in the other direction. Dawson won eight Gold Gloves (even if a number of them were given on reputation), while Jones was one of the best defensive players ever and arguably the best center fielder of all time.

      In terms of WAR, Dawson has just a minor edge, 64.4 to 62.7 for Jones. He also has a bit of extra hardware, with a ROY and an (entirely undeserved) NL MVP award.

      If it wasn’t for Andruw’s apparent inability to say no to a box of donuts and subsequent decline, it would even be a question – 500 homers and a dozen Gold Gloves ought to be automatic. But even acknowledging the abrupt end to his superstar days, he was still about as good as The Hawk over the span of his MLB career.

      Of course, whether or not Dawson deserved the Hall in the first class is an entirely different question 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline

    Griffin Canning Believed To Have Suffered Achilles Injury

    Mariners Looking For Corner Infield Bats; Ownership Willing To Bump Payroll

    Wander Franco Found Guilty Of Sexual Abuse

    Mariners Place Rowdy Tellez On Release Waivers

    Max Meyer To Undergo Season-Ending Hip Surgery

    Whit Merrifield Announces Retirement

    White Sox Sign Noah Syndergaard To Minor League Deal

    Corbin Carroll Placed On IL With Wrist Fracture

    Hoops Rumors Has The Latest On NBA Draft, Free Agency

    Mets Option Francisco Alvarez

    Reds To Promote Chase Burns For MLB Debut

    Recent

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Mets Trade Donovan Walton To Phillies

    Colin Poche Elects Free Agency

    Trey Mancini Opts Out Of D-Backs Deal

    Padres To Select Eduarniel Nunez

    Brewers’ Connor Thomas To Undergo Elbow Surgery

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Jorge Mateo To Miss 8 To 12 Weeks With Hamstring Strain

    Reds To Sign Buck Farmer To Minor League Deal

    Pirates Trade Hunter Stratton To Braves

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version