Aug. 29: The Blue Jays announced that they’ve given Aoki his unconditional release. He’s a free agent and can sign with any team for the pro-rated league minimum through season’s end.
Aug. 28: The Blue Jays have designated outfielder Nori Aoki for assignment and recalled right-hander Leonel Campos from Triple-A Buffalo to clear a spot on the active roster, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.
Toronto acquired Aoki, 35, at the non-waiver trade deadline in that swap that sent lefty Francisco Liriano to the Astros. Aoki’s inclusion in the deal, however, looked to be largely a financial mechanism to provide further incentive for Houston to part with well-regarded outfield prospect Teoscar Hernandez. That looks to be even more true now, as Aoki logged just 34 plate appearances with the Jays and hit .281/.294/.594 with a double and three homers in that time.
Even with that small power surge, Aoki’s batting line on the whole is a rather pedestrian .274/.319/.402 in 258 PAs between Houston and Toronto. He’s earning $5.5MM in 2017, and about $1.02MM of that sum is yet to be paid out. The Jays can spend the next week looking for a trade partner or can simply eat the remainder of the contract and release Aoki into free agency. He’s arbitration-eligible through the 2018 campaign, though given his lackluster offensive output and fairly sizable $5.5MM salary, he was a non-tender candidate for the Jays this winter anyhow.
why man
Nothing Personal Mr. Aoki, it’s a business. I’m sure you understand.
With us you batted .281 with 3HR in 34PA,
But your OBP was also .294 so therefore, despite the small sample size, I’m afraid to inform you, you’re a roster casualty. 35 is still young in baseball years, and you have many great years ahead of yourself. Also, your defense (According to UZR) was -4.0 for us , and -2.2 overall (so worse for us) and final nail in your coffin.
I assume you were being sarcastic when you said 35 was still young in baseball years. That’s over-the-hill in any sport. (Unless you count poker, lol)
Age is but a number and if you’re the epitome of true class professional like Ichiro, who is still on a MLB Roster, at age 43 then age doesn’t matter.
Wasn’t meant to be sarcasm at all. This is a serious matter. What I’d give to be a fly on the wall as he was getting released. The man had .281 with 3HR in 34 PA for the Toronto Blue Jays. Doesn’t get better than that for your debut. The only derogative marks I found on him were his defense (-4.0 runs saved for Mariners, and -.2.2 runs saved overall for all teams he played for this season) according to UZR. That’s bad. OBP with the Blue Jays was .294 which you think isn’t as bad when you count hits and HR. I’m confused too, believe me. I honestly think that’s what Dipoto would tell him,
Mr.Aoki, Meet The Mets !
He’s almost a .300 hitter that’s hardly pedestrian. Sure he has no power but there is a spot for him somewhere in the major.
His on base skills have somewhat eroded in the last year, and his defense is questionable at best anymore. Maybe he has a spot somewhere as a bench bat. Just not a lot of value in empty singles
Guys like this used to have a lot more value before teams carried 13-man pitching staffs and employed pinch-hitting specialists. Teams just don’t carry pinch-hitters anymore.
Here is a perfect example of why batting average can be a bit misleading.
How is .274 “almost” .300? I’m “almost” a millionaire!
In his short time he has been more effective than Tulo or Martin have ever been as Blue Jays…mind you, that isn’t saying much.
Martin? I can see the Tulo argument but Martin has been just fine. Even if his bat is just league average, he’s still one of the best in the business with carrying a pitching staff
Right. While he wasn’t vintage Tulo, his defense was stellar last season and hit over 20 home runs.
Not to mention that Tulo and Martin play in premium spots on the field so comparing them to Aoki is just asinine.
Catch a plane to Tampa, Nori. The Astros are sorry they traded you.
Sounds odd…..but I get it. The Bucs could also use some outfield help…..but it’s pretty much over for them.
Assuming that he is released before September 1, he’d be eligible to re-sign with Toronto next season and they would not need to carry him on the 40-man roster over the Rule 5 Draft, as they would if they planned to non-tender him. I am surprised more probably non-tenders whose contributions are not needed in September aren’t released on August 31 each year. The only reason for a team to carry past August 31 a player they plan to non-tender is if he is still contributing in the current season or they think he can be moved before the deadline to tender a contract.
I remember plenty of instances in which a player signed after September 1st was selected in the Rule V: Art Charles, Deolis Guerra, Andy Oliver, Angel Sanchez, Ji-Man Choi
I don’t know about any other stipulation, but I could be completely off base.
That is correct, and would be correct for any team signing Aoki if they outright him after the season. But, for the Jays, there was no reason to keep him past August 31 if he was not going to contribute this year and they were likely to but him anyway.
My understanding is that any player released after August 31 through the off-season cannot be re-signed until May. Add to that the fact that the tender deadline is after the Rule 5 draft roster is set, keeping a player who is going to be non-tendered means that player takes up a spot on the 40-man roster. I suppose they could have kept him, outrighted him after the season, and let him choose free agency, which I think he can given his tenure. Of course if he didn’t, he could be take in the Rule 5 draft but I think the new team would be subject to his arbitration salary. That would leave them the option to re-sign him for less, which they could not do if they released him after September 1..
What I was getting (or at least trying to) is that cutting him now helps the Jays keep their options open in two ways: it avoids having to keep him on the 40-man roster while allowing them to sign him ion the offseason, not May.
Could he come to the Cubs? Be considered the ptbnl for montero
That’s not how that works. The PTBNL is from a list that is made when the trade occurs. Aoki wasn’t with the Jays when they acquired Montero, so he could not have been on that list.
Someone will claim him, would be a guy you plug into an outfield spot for the rest of the year. Teams like the Giants would be interested.
Or not.
The Indians would love to claim Nori Aoki because he’ll be a food defender for Cleveland.
good i mean
They don’t have to defend the food anymore after Uribe left
always thought he would have been the halos answer to LF & leadoff…going back to the pre Hambone signing that they’re still paying for; may have just been enough to move trout to the 3 hole he belongs in.
Always liked Aoki, guy can hit. Good ball player.
Could do ALOT worse than Aoki as 5th OF, especially cpl days before Sept. call-ups, nice lil lefty stick, veteran professional ball player, hope my Dodgers snag em, give em month to show if anything is left in the tank……
He’s not a Dodgers type player/fit the mold upon which this team was built. Or he doesn’t remotely fit a need. He’s not good defensively, his arm limits him to LF, his obp skills are eroding, and his lack of power. There’s also not going to be enough ABs to justify signing him. I mean honestly there’s going to be a hard enough time trying to even get Ethier ABs upon his return.
Mets need an extra OF with all these injuries I’m sure they will be looking into him.
I think he’s a good player, but the Mets need to play their kids and also determine who has a future in their organization. Rather see Lagares, Reynolds, Nimmo, and Taijeron get more playing time than 35-year-old free agent Aoki. Think he’s better suited to help a contending team.
Reynolds is an infielder the Mets are trying to convert to a utility player. He is not an outfielder, but it is a lost season so What the Heck
Doesn’t hit enough homers to play for the Jays.
He looks so sad in that picture…
Giants!
Bobby “Well, there’s zero upside but what’s the harm ?” Evans
Aoki would be some nice damage control for the Mets.