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Norichika Aoki

Nori Aoki To Retire At NPB Season’s End

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Former big league outfielder and current member of Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yakult Swallows Nori Aoki is set to retire following the 2024 campaign, per an announcement from the Swallows yesterday (hat tip to The Yomiuri Shimbun). Aoki, 42, spent parts of six seasons in the majors in addition to a lengthy career in Japan.

Aoki’s career first began with the Swallows back in 2004 when he debuted at the age of 22. He made it into just ten games with Yakult that year, going 3-for-15 at the plate with a walk, a stolen base, and six strikeouts. That tiny sample size did nothing to suggest what Aoki would go on to do in his first full season with the club, however, as he slashed an excellent .344/.387/.417 in 144 games during the 2005 season, becoming just the second player in NPB history (after Ichiro Suzuki) to collect 200 hits in a single season.

He improved to even greater heights throughout his mid-20s, slashing 15-to-20 homer power to go along with fantastic contact and baserunning skills. As his plate discpline developed, he even began to walk more than he struck out, leading to a dominant stretch of seasons from 2007 to 2010 where he walked at a 10.6% clip against a minuscule 9.8% strikeout rate in addition to his aforementioned solid power and impressive base-stealing abilities, and even crossed the 200-hit barrier for a second time in 2010 to become the only NPB player in history to achieve the feat twice.

Given the excellence he had demonstrated throughout his time with the Swallows, it was hardly a surprise when he was quickly snapped up by the Brewers on a two-year deal after being posted for major league clubs prior to the 2012 season. In Milwaukee, Aoki was a slightly above average hitter with a solid .287/.355/.399 slash line. While he only hit a combined 18 home runs over his two seasons with the Brewers, he swiped 50 bags while hitting 57 doubles and 7 triples in that same period. That was a strong enough performance for Milwaukee brass to pick up Aoki’s club option for the 2014 season, but he did not last the offseason with the club and was swapped to the Royals in a deal that brought lefty Will Smith to the Brewers.

After departing the Brewers, Aoki wouldn’t stick around with an MLB club for more than a season at the time for the rest of his time in stateside ball. After acting as the regular right fielder in Kansas City for the club’s AL pennant-winning 2014 season, Aoki departed in free agency to sign with the Giants but was limited to just 93 games when he suffered a broken leg and a concussion in two separate hit-by-pitch incidents. Aoki then signed a one-year deal with the Mariners in 2016 but began to show some signs of decline, notably stealing only seven bases in sixteen attempts with the worst strikeout and walk numbers of his MLB career, though he did display his best power numbers since his rookie 2012 campaign with the Brewers.

Aoki’s final season in the big leagues came back in 2017 and saw him change uniforms several times. The veteran outfielder was claimed off waivers from the Mariners by the Astros during the 2016-17 offseason. Aoki struggled somewhat through 70 games with Houston, however, and ended up traded to the Blue Jays at the deadline that year alongside Teoscar Hernandez in a deal that brought Francisco Liriano to Houston. Aoki managed to catch fire down the stretch, however, and while his playing time was further split between the Blue Jays and Mets over the final two months of the season he slashed .281/.294/.594 for Toronto in August before slashing .284/.371/.373 in Queens that September.

Following the end of his MLB career, Aoki returned home to the Swallows and has played for the club in each of the past seven seasons. Now 42, the veteran is the league’s oldest active player and has collected more than 7,000 plate appearances with a .313/.392/.445 slash line in 1,713 NPB games. Between NPB and MLB play, Aoki has stepped up to the plate more than 10,000 times with 2,765 hits, 470 doubles, 51 triples, 179 homers and 279 stolen bases. We at MLBTR congratulate Aoki on a fine career and wish him all the best in his post-playing pursuits.

Best Deadline Rental Returns In Recent History, #3: Jays Get An All-Star Slugger

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With the trade deadline now less than two months away, we at MLBTR are setting our sights backwards for a bit to highlight past trades of rental players to provide a loose guideline of what sort of returns fans can expect with their teams’ current rental players. With an arbitrary cutoff point of 2017-21, we’re counting down the top 10 returns that a team got when selling a rental player. We’ve already published some honorable mentions as well as entries No. 10, No. 9, No. 8, No. 7, No. 6, No. 5 and No. 4. If you disagree with our rankings, let us know! It’s all part of the subjective fun! Onto No. 3…

The Blue Jays had made it as far as the ALCS in both 2015 and 2016 and were looking to compete again in 2017. The saw both José Bautista and Edwin Encarnación become free agents after 2016 but were able to re-sign Bautista. Encarnación got away, but they tried to replace him by signing Kendrys Morales and Steve Pearce, while also fortifying the bullpen with signings of Joe Smith and J.P. Howell.

Unfortunately, the Jays couldn’t keep it going for a third straight year. By July 31, they were 49-57 and in last place in the American League East, nine games out in the division and seven games back in the Wild Card race. They decided to do some selling, trading Smith to Cleveland and also trading Francisco Liriano to Houston.

Liriano, 33 at that time, had just been acquired by the Jays from the Pirates in a deadline deal one year earlier. It was essentially a salary dump for the Bucs, as the Jays took on all of what remained of Liriano’s contract. The Pirates were grateful enough for that kindness that they included prospects Harold Ramírez and Reese McGuire in the deal, taking back only Drew Hutchison in return. Neither Ramírez or McGuire would establish themselves in the majors with the Jays, though they have each now done so for AL East rivals. Liriano had a 5.46 ERA going into that trade but finished the season strong, posting a 2.92 ERA with the Jays and helping them get into the playoffs.

However, he was struggling again in 2017, as he had a 5.88 ERA through 18 starts with Toronto. He was still enjoying good results against lefties, as they had hit just .230/.254/.361 against him on the year. The Astros decided to take a shot on grabbing Liriano and converting him into a left-on-left relief specialist, despite the fact that he had worked almost exclusively as a starter in his career.

Liriano was making $13MM that year, with about $4.48MM still remaining to be paid out at the time of the deal. That would have been a fine salary for a solid rotation member but was on the high side for the specialized role the Astros envisioned. The Jays offset some of that by taking on outfielder Nori Aoki, who was making $5.5MM that year. But the real get for the Jays was young outfielder Teoscar Hernández.

For the Astros, Liriano made 20 relief appearances down the stretch with a 4.40 ERA despite a 15.2% walk rate. He then made another five appearances in the postseason with a 3.86 ERA. The club emerged victorious and won their first ever World Series title, though that achievement is now marred by the revelations of their elaborate sign-stealing scheme.

For the Jays, they released Aoki less than a month after the deal, emphasizing that their real focus was Hernández. Just 24 years old at that time, he was considered one of Houston’s top 10 prospects and had already made his major league debut. He hadn’t yet established himself in the bigs, hitting just .230/.304/.420 in his first 113 plate appearances. However, he had always hit the minors and was slashing .279/.369/.485 in Triple-A at the time of the deal. The Astros had an outfield mix that consisted of George Springer, Josh Reddick and Derek Fisher, with prospect Kyle Tucker on the cusp of his debut, leaving Hernández somewhat blocked from regular playing time.

Teoscar HernandezThe Jays put Hernández into 26 games down the stretch that year, and he quickly showed his tremendous power potential, hitting eight home runs in that brief time. There were also some concerning elements, as he walked in only 6.3% of his plate appearances while striking out at a glaring 37.9% clip. Nonetheless, it was an encouraging showing for a young outfielder who had yet to show he could handle himself in the majors.

Hernandez took on a regular role in the Toronto outfield from there, and the first couple of seasons had mixed results, generally mirroring that late-2017 debut in Toronto. He hit 22 home runs in 2018 and 26 more the year after, but he also struck out in 32% of his plate appearances. His 8.7% walk rate was close to league average, but his overall batting line was .235/.304/.470. Despite the obvious power, the punchouts dragged his wRC+ down to 104 over that two-year span, indicating he was just a bit above average overall. He stole 11 bases in that time but his defensive metrics were poor.

The next three seasons would prove to be much better, however. From 2020 to 2022, he struck out in 27.2% of his trips to the plate, still above league average but a significant improvement on his previous work. He did that without sacrificing any power, launching 73 home runs in those two-plus seasons. His .283/.333/.519 line in that time translated to a 132 wRC+, putting him in the top 25 among all hitters in the league in that category. He earned Silver Slugger awards in both 2020 and 2021 and was an All-Star in the latter season. That coincided with the club’s return to contention, as Hernández slotted into the middle of the lineup alongside up-and-coming star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, helping the club reach the postseason in both 2020 and 2022.

Despite the great work at the plate, the defense continued to be subpar. Hernandez has career tallies of -23 Defensive Runs Saved, -23 Outs Above Average and a grade of -21 from Ultimate Zone Rating. Going into 2023, the Jays set out to be a better defensive club, trading away bat-first players like Hernández and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. while bringing in Kevin Kiermaier and Daulton Varsho. Hernández was flipped to the Mariners for pitchers Erik Swanson and Adam Macko.

Looked at on its own, the Liriano swap looks great for the Blue Jays. They traded an impending free agent pitcher who was struggling to a 5.88 ERA on the year, netting themselves a lineup regular who essentially played at a 30-homer-per-year pace for five seasons. When he had one year of club control remaining, they flipped him for a couple of pitchers that extended the benefits into the future. Swanson has become the setup man to closer Jordan Romano, posting a 2.56 ERA this year while earning 16 holds. He can be controlled for two more seasons via arbitration. Macko is struggling in High-A at the moment but is still just 22 years old. Looking back to the initial deal with the Pirates, the whole transaction tree looks even better as the club turned Hutchison into Liriano, then Hernandez and now Swanson/Macko.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Transaction Retrospection: Teoscar Hernandez Trade

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Few players raised their stock more this past season than Teoscar Hernández. A competent but unspectacular hitter from 2018-19, Hernández had what looked like a breakout in 2020. Over 207 plate appearances, the Blue Jay outfielder hit .289/.340/.579 with 16 home runs. Along the way, he ranked in the 94th percentile or better in such Statcast metrics as average exit velocity, hard contact, expected weighted on-base average and barrel rate.

Hernández isn’t a flawless player. He’s a below-average defender. He has long had issues making contact, with a career 31.6% strikeout rate only marginally higher than last year’s 30.4%. Moving forward, the 28-year-old looks more like a solid regular than a star in the making. Regardless, Hernández is a valuable and important part of a Toronto roster coming off a berth in the expanded playoffs and looking on the verge of perennial postseason contention.

With that in mind, it’s worth looking back at the deal that landed Hernández with the Jays in the first place. Originally signed as an international amateur by the Astros, Hernández was flipped (alongside veteran outfielder Nori Aoki) to Toronto in advance of the 2017 trade deadline for left-hander Francisco Liriano. To that point, the veteran southpaw had posted just a 5.88 ERA as a starter for the Blue Jays. He had stifled opposing left-handed hitters, though, holding them to a .230/.254/.361 slash line.

The Houston front office thought a bullpen transition, where Liriano could be heavily leveraged against same-handed batters, could make him an asset. With George Springer, Josh Reddick, Derek Fisher and Jake Marisnick all on hand (and Kyle Tucker rapidly climbing the minor-league ladder), the Astros felt they could part with an MLB-ready outfield prospect to acquire a relief weapon. Unfortunately, Liriano continued to scuffle down the stretch, pitching to a 4.40 ERA with an 11:10 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 14.1 relief innings as an Astro.

Despite mediocre production from Liriano, the Astros went on to win the World Series. However one feels about the legitimacy of that title after subsequent revelations of Houston’s sign-stealing operation, the team probably wouldn’t undo any specific transaction related to the roster in retrospect. But from a pure value perspective, there’s no question Toronto came out ahead in the swap. Aoki barely played for the team, but Hernández looks to have emerged as a capable everyday performer as the Jays’ new contention window opens. He remains under club control through 2023.

Nori Aoki Reportedly Agrees To Three-Year Deal With NPB’s Yakult Swallows

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After spending the past six seasons in Major League Baseball, outfielder Nori Aoki is reportedly headed back to Japan. Both the Kyodo News and Japan Times report that the 36-year-old Aoki has agreed to a three-year contract with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. The CAA client’s deal is reported to be worth one billion Yen — or $9.19MM in total over that three-year term.

Nori Aoki | Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Aoki split the 2017 season between the Astros, Blue Jays and Mets, hitting a combined .277/.335/.393 with five homers and 10 steals over the course of 374 plate appearances. That marked the lowest total of plate appearances he’d received in a season since coming over from NPB with the Brewers in 2012, though his overall output at the plate was still only slightly below the league average in the estimation of metrics like OPS+ (98) and wRC+ (97).

That said, Aoki was one of many options for MLB teams on a crowded free-agent market for outfielders (MLBTR Free Agent Tracker link), and heading into his age-36 campaign, he was also one of the older players on that market. As the game increasingly gravitates away from guaranteeing significant commitments to players in their late 30s, it seems likely that Aoki would’ve had to settle for a minor league pact or a low-salary, one-year commitment from a big league team if he wished to continue playing in North America.

Instead, he’ll head back to the organization where he starred from from 2005-11 prior to making the move to Major League Baseball. In parts of eight seasons with Yakult, Aoki posted a hefty .329/.402/.454 batting line with 84 homers and 164 stolen bases. He’ll return as a well-traveled elder statesman on the tail end of his career, hoping to benefit the team both on the field as well as off the field as he shares his experiences with the organization’s younger talent.

Given that the reported contract will run through Aoki’s age-38 season, it seems quite likely that his days in the Majors could be over. If that indeed proves to be the case, then he more than held his own in the big leagues. The remarkably consistent Aoki hit between .277 and .288 in each of his six seasons here, and his on-base percentage never dipped below this past season’s mark of .335. In all, he batted .285/.350/.387 as a Major Leaguer, spending time with the Brewers, Royals (with whom he appeared in the 2014 World Series), Giants, Mariners, Astros, Blue Jays and Mets.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Quick Hits: Pace Of Play, Prospects, Orioles, McCutchen

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In his latest column for The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal chats with five players — Max Scherzer, Daniel Murphy, Paul Goldschmidt, Jerry Blevins and Chris Iannetta — about their concerns over the proposed 20-second pitch clock and their more general thoughts on the league’s pace of play initiatives. All of the players express a willingness to change and acknowledge that they’re in favor of speeding up the game to an extent, though none voiced support of a clock. Iannetta states that the clock “fundamentally changes the way the game is played,” while Goldschmidt shares some concerns he’s heard from Double-A and Triple-A players that have played with the clock but found it to be a headache.

“In some cases, I heard of ways around the rule,” says Goldschmidt. “You could kind of gimmick it. You could slow down the game. You could step off. It wasn’t like it just forced guys to throw pitches a lot quicker. There was a lot of gray area guys weren’t comfortable with.” Both Scherzer and Blevins, meanwhile, expressed some frustration with the fact that they’re routinely on the mound ready to go but have to wait an additional 20-30 seconds for commercial breaks to end. It’s an interesting read for those who have strong feelings, one way or another, on the newest slate of proposed rule changes to the game.

A few more notes from around the league…

  • It’s prospect ranking season! Baseball America rolled out their 2018 Top 100 list today, headlined by Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna in the top spot. Of course, the decision was far from easy for them, and the BA staff explained the decision process at length in a separate post for BA subscribers. As JJ Cooper, Ben Badler, Kyle Glaser, Josh Norris and Matt Eddy explain in great detail, there were feelings among the BA staff that any of Acuna, Shohei Ohtani or Vladimir Guerrero Jr. could have been the No. 1 overall prospect this season. Among the factors considered when trying to reach a consensus were the age-old position player vs. pitcher debate as well as Acuna’s proximity to the Majors relative to Guerrero.
  • Meanwhile, over at ESPN, Keith Law published the first half of his Top 100 prospects today. There are several notable players that have been traded in the past year on the back half of the list, including Sandy Alcantara (whom the Marlins received as the headliner in the Marcell Ozuna swap), James Kaprielian (who went to the Athletics as part of last July’s Sonny Gray trade) and Franklin Perez and Daz Cameron (who went to the Tigers in the Justin Verlander blockbuster). Angels fans will be heartened to see four entrants on the list — Jahmai Jones, Chris Rodriguez, Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell — as their once lowly farm system begins to build back up.
  • Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com looks at the Orioles’ need for a left-handed-hitting outfielder to balance out the lineup and runs down a list of players that have “intrigued various members of the organization.” That includes Carlos Gonzalez, Melky Cabrera and Nori Aoki, according to Connolly, in addition to other names that have been recently mentioned (e.g. Jarrod Dyson). Trey Mancini and Adam Jones figure to be in the outfield regularly, but the Orioles’ hope is that they can acquire a defensively superior option to Mark Trumbo to slot into right field, thus pushing Trumbo to DH.
  • In a fantastic column for the Players’ Tribune, Andrew McCutchen bids an emotional farewell to the city of Pittsburgh, which he writes “will always be home” and “will always mean everything” to him. McCutchen recounts the overwhelming experience of the standing ovation he received at the Pirates’ final home game of the season last year, as Bucs fans recognized that they may never see him in a Pirates uniform again. He also shares his experience of finding out about the trade, with credit to Neal Huntington for how he handled the process. Fans of the Pirates, Giants and baseball in general will all want to check out the column in its entirety.

NL East Notes: Marlins, Long, Aoki, Wathan

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While the Marlins are hoping to shed as much as $50MM in salary — reportedly by moving players such as Giancarlo Stanton, Martin Prado  and Dee Gordon — the team still believes in its core more cost-efficient young bats, writes MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro. In fact, Frisaro writes that the Fish are still hoping to improve their starting pitching this offseason even in the midst of shedding payroll, with a belief that the team can still contend in 2018. It’s not entirely clear how Miami intends to supplement what is presently an extremely thin rotation, though presumably they’ll seek to add some young arms in marketing both Stanton and Gordon. If enough payroll is shed, the club could theoretically look to add some affordable arms on the free-agent market, though it seems unlikely that they’d be in play for anything other than low-cost back-of-the-rotation arms or reclamation projects.

More out of the NL East…

  • Though Mets hitting coach Kevin Long was passed over for the Nationals’ managerial opening after interviewing, Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post reports (via Twitter) that Long is in consideration to become the hitting coach under newly minted Nats skipper Dave Martinez. Long has spent the past 10 seasons as a big league hitting coach — seven with the Yankees and three with the Mets — and played a hand in helping current Nats slugger Daniel Murphy take his game to a new level. Long’s contract with the Mets is up at upon conclusion of the World Series, though there’s not yet any definitive word that he will not be returning to the Mets in 2018.
  • Newsday’s Marc Carig writes that at the time he signed with the Mets, Nori Aoki and his representatives asked the team to release him well in advance of the non-tender deadline if it was determined that he wouldn’t be offered arbitration for the 2018 season. The Mets honored that request on Monday, releasing the 35-year-old veteran outfielder and making him a free agent. Aoki posted a rather light .272/.323/.371 batting line in 224 plate appearances with the Astros this season, but he batted a much more impressive .284/.353/.425 with three homers, eight doubles and a triple in his final 150 PAs of the season between the Blue Jays and Mets.
  • Phillies Triple-A manager Dusty Wathan didn’t ultimately land the team’s managerial job but still could land on manager Gabe Kapler’s coaching staff, writes MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. The 44-year-old Wathan will return to the organization in 2018 no matter what, as he’s currently under contract for next season as the Triple-A manager, Zolecki notes. Because Kapler is entering his first stint as an MLB manager, the Phils will likely have a couple of veteran coaches on his staff, Zolecki continues, but they’ll also likely bring in some younger coaches that are in the same vein as Kapler himself. Zolecki runs down a number of potential candidates, so Phils fans will want to check out the column in full.

Mets Release Nori Aoki

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The Mets have released veteran outfielder Nori Aoki, per a club announcement. He had been eligible for arbitration, but will instead return to the open market in search of his next destination.

Aoki, 35, caught on with the Mets after opening the 2017 season with the Astros and joining the Blue Jays via trade. In total, he compiled 258 plate appearances of .277/.335/.393 hitting on the season. That rates right near the league average in total output, which is more or less where Aoki has landed in all of his six MLB campaigns.

The move isn’t at all surprising given Aoki’s projected arbitration salary, which sat at a fairly hefty $6.3MM. Still, he’ll surely draw interest in free agency. For all he lacks in upside, Aoki has been stunningly consistent since coming over from Japan. Despite little power, Aoki is nearly impossible to strike out. And while his output against lefties dipped this year in a small sample, he has generally shown little in the way of a platoon split.

Mets Sign Nori Aoki

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The Mets have signed veteran outfielder Nori Aoki, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets. The Blue Jays released Aoki earlier this week, making him eligible to sign with any team for a prorated portion of the league minimum salary.

The 35-year-old Aoki has produced a respectable .274/.319/.402 line over 258 plate appearances with the Astros and Jays this season, but has now changed teams twice, first heading from Houston to Toronto in the Francisco Liriano deal (likely in part to balance salaries in that trade) and now going from Toronto to New York. He has little power, with just five home runs this season, but he retains some of his established ability to make contact and still rates as approximately an average defender in a corner.

Aoki will aid a Mets team that’s short in the outfield following the departures of Jay Bruce and Curtis Granderson last month, as well as significant injuries to Yoenis Cespedes and Michael Conforto. Aoki is eligible for salary arbitration in the offseason, but he would likely be in line to receive a salary above the $5.5MM he’s getting this season, so he appears to be a non-tender candidate.

Blue Jays Release Nori Aoki

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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.

Astros Acquire Francisco Liriano For Nori Aoki, Teoscar Hernandez

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The Astros have added lefty Francisco Liriano from the Blue Jays in exchange for veteran outfielder Nori Aoki and younger outfielder Teoscar Hernandez.

Francisco Liriano | David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Houston is said to view Liriano as a reliever for the remainder of the season. While the 33-year-old Liriano has had a poor season in the Toronto rotation, he’s maintained his velocity and his effectiveness against left-handed opponents. That’s led to plenty of speculation, both here and elsewhere, that the veteran southpaw could emerge as a possible bullpen option for teams unwilling to meet the asking prices on the market’s top relievers.

[Related: Updated Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros depth charts]

Through 63 plate appearances this season, left-handed opponents are batting just .230/.254/.361 against Liriano. The lefty has a 17-to-1 K/BB ratio in those matchups and has averaged nearly 93 mph on his fastball this season. One would imagine that in moving to a short relief role, that velocity could tick upward a couple of notches.

Liriano is a free agent at season’s end and is earning $13MM in the final campaign of a three-year, $39MM contract. He’s still owed about $4.48MM of that sum.

Aoki, 35, is earning $5.5MM in 2017 and is owed $1.89MM of that sum through the end of the year. It’s not clear if there’s additional cash in the deal, but as it stands, the Jays will be saving about $2.59MM this this swap. Considering Houston is sending a minor leaguer as well, though, it wouldn’t at all be a surprise for Toronto to pick up some of all of the remaining tab on Liriano.

Aoki has batted .272/.323/.371 through 224 plate appearances this season. While he’s under club control through the 2018 campaign via arbitration, his age and lack of offensive output make him a non-tender candidate after the season, as he’d likely be in line for a raise that would send his salary north of $6MM.

The 24-year-old Hernandez ranked ninth among Houston farmhands on MLB.com’s midseason top 30 list and is a more or less MLB-ready commodity. He’s hitting .279/.369/.485 with a dozen homers and a dozen steals through 347 Triple-A plate appearances this year.

Hernandez hasn’t exactly thrived in a small sample of 113 MLB plate appearances, but he’s held his own with a .230/.304/.420 slash. The Astros likely deemed Hernandez somewhat superfluous, however, with George Springer, Josh Reddick and Derek Fisher all in the Majors, to say nothing of top prospect Kyle Tucker lurking in the upper minors.

MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal reported that the two sides were in talks (via Twitter). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale said the two sides were close to a deal (on Twitter).  Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reported the agreement (on Twitter). Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reported that Aoki and a minor leaguer were going to Houston (Twitter link). Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi (on Twitter) had Hernandez’s inclusion.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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