Kevin Youkilis is going to sign with the Rakuten Golden Eagles: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/12/rakuten-golden-eagles-to-sign-kevin-youkilis.html
Youk heads to Japan
- Thread starter Don Buddin's GS
- Start date
I have to believe he could have signed a major league deal with someone. I think this is truly a choice, and a very interesting one. If he can stay healthy, I think the country will really take to him, he'll put up monster numbers, and probably pile up several million dollars in endorsements in addition to what I imagine is already a pretty lucrative salary.
As awesome as last season was, it would have been that much better if Youk could have somehow been a part of it. He was everything you could ever want out of an 8th round pick and then some. I wish him all the best in the land of the rising sun.
Albeit a solid guy, Youk never struck me as a real outgoing personality. Americans playing baseball in Japan is about the equivalent of Japanese players in MLB now. Not such a big deal. Youk is in it strictly for the money and nothing else. Go get what you can Youk!WayBackVazquez said:
I guess you could say he's now....
the Greek God of Woks.
YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
the Greek God of Woks.
YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
It's been a long time since I lived there, but back then the country went wild for Tom O'Malley, who was a very poor man's Youk at the plate. My sense was that hard-nosed type American players go over very well when they back it up with good play. We'll see, I guess.
Smiling Joe Hesketh said:I guess you could say he's now....
the Greek God of Woks.
YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Woks are Chinese.
He'll be good with ramen in scoring position.
$5 million isn't chump change. Good for you, Youkie. Fare thee well.
Edit: I hadn't realized that he'd only worked 28 games for the Yankees. Good job fleecing them of $12M!
Edit: I hadn't realized that he'd only worked 28 games for the Yankees. Good job fleecing them of $12M!
What the Golden Eagles should do if they want the fans to take to Youk is build a ho/oo scale replica of Tokyo in the dugout and everytime he strikes out, he can storm into the dugout and stomp his way through downtown Tokyo just like Godzilla, they'll fall in love with him instantly.
GodYouk instead of Godzilla.
GodYouk instead of Godzilla.
M
MentalDisabldLst
Guest
One of the 25. The first to leave MLB on something other than his own terms, though, right?
Splitters always were a weakness for him in his strike zone judgment, so I hope he's taking some practice against them.
Splitters always were a weakness for him in his strike zone judgment, so I hope he's taking some practice against them.
Smiling Joe Hesketh said:I guess you could say he's now....
the Greek God of Woks.
YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Japanese, Chinese.
This is the SoSH equivalent of Puig bat-flipping and pimping a ball he thought was 10 rows gone. And having it hit the wall.
You still get the triple though for effort.
$428,571 per game. Nice. That would work out to be a $69M one year deal. Methinks they overspent a bitInsideTheParker said:
I always said I could understand other teams' fans thinking he was an asshole (unlike Papi and Pedroia). In a Sox uniform, I rooted for him but never felt especially fond of him. I'm glad he fleeced the Yankees and I wish him well in Japan, but I love the idea of the mini Tokyo 54thMA suggested. I could see him stomping on it fairly regularly.
Youk says his wife has interest in living abroad for a year, and his daughter (7) is also giving the adventure a thumbs up.
I believe the Golden Eagles are the northernmost team in the NPB, based near where the tsunami caused so much devastation a couple of years ago and also in the same region as the balky nuclear power plant.
Edit: for reference, this year's team featured Tanaka as well as familiar names Andruw Jones, Kaz Matsui, and (another) former Red Sox Takashi Saito.
I believe the Golden Eagles are the northernmost team in the NPB, based near where the tsunami caused so much devastation a couple of years ago and also in the same region as the balky nuclear power plant.
Edit: for reference, this year's team featured Tanaka as well as familiar names Andruw Jones, Kaz Matsui, and (another) former Red Sox Takashi Saito.
Jesus Christ people I think he knows woks are Chinese. I still lol'd.
The defending Japan Series Eagles are in fact based in Sendai/Tohoku, near where the quake & tsunami hit. They are the northernmost team in Honshu, but Darvish's old team, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, are based in Sapporo and are the northernmost overall.
Anyway, I'm moving back to Tokyo in January so it looks like I'll have to make a few trips up to Sendai in 2014! I just hope he stays healthy.
The defending Japan Series Eagles are in fact based in Sendai/Tohoku, near where the quake & tsunami hit. They are the northernmost team in Honshu, but Darvish's old team, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, are based in Sapporo and are the northernmost overall.
Anyway, I'm moving back to Tokyo in January so it looks like I'll have to make a few trips up to Sendai in 2014! I just hope he stays healthy.
Smiling Joe Hesketh said:I guess you could say he's now....
the Greek God of Woks.
YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
That was pretty good.
Here's to hoping he has a long, successful Japanese career like Mike Greenwell! Oops.Rudy Pemberton said:
I was lucky enough to see Youk rake on a regular basis in Portland the summer before my senior year in college. I can't wish the guy anything but the best. One weekend that September, he recognized a friend and I who attended home games at The Great Lost Bear and invited us to join him. We killed a couple hours eating a ludicrous amount of wings and having drinks, while talking about baseball. I gotta say, Youk was passionate about the game and was very happy to be in the Boston system at the time.
Loved watching him with the Sox and can't help but root for him. I always figured he'd end up finishing out with the Reds. Won't surprise me to see him back here professionally in 2015, but he's had a great career for a flier pick in the 8th round.
Forever one of the 25.
Loved watching him with the Sox and can't help but root for him. I always figured he'd end up finishing out with the Reds. Won't surprise me to see him back here professionally in 2015, but he's had a great career for a flier pick in the 8th round.
Forever one of the 25.
One of the 25. The first to leave MLB on something other than his own terms, though, right?
Not really. Damon got DFA'd by the Indians in 2012. M'wicz met a similar end. Bill Mueller had to retire due to a chronic knee condition.
Not really. Damon got DFA'd by the Indians in 2012. M'wicz met a similar end. Bill Mueller had to retire due to a chronic knee condition.
I was lucky enough to see Youk rake on a regular basis in Portland the summer before my senior year in college. I can't wish the guy anything but the best. One weekend that September, he recognized a friend and I who attended home games at The Great Lost Bear and invited us to join him. We killed a couple hours eating a ludicrous amount of wings and having drinks, while talking about baseball. I gotta say, Youk was passionate about the game and was very happy to be in the Boston system at the time.
Loved watching him with the Sox and can't help but root for him. I always figured he'd end up finishing out with the Reds. Won't surprise me to see him back here professionally in 2015, but he's had a great career for a flier pick in the 8th round.
Forever one of the 25.
Beers and wings with Youk? Sign me up.
Loved watching him with the Sox and can't help but root for him. I always figured he'd end up finishing out with the Reds. Won't surprise me to see him back here professionally in 2015, but he's had a great career for a flier pick in the 8th round.
Forever one of the 25.
Beers and wings with Youk? Sign me up.
Ever since "Sex Farm" hit the top 10 in Japan, I've known it to be a great place to reboot and start afresh.
Best of luck to Youk... it's nice to be able to fully root for him again, and I have a feeling he'll be back for another stint in MLB before he's through.
Best of luck to Youk... it's nice to be able to fully root for him again, and I have a feeling he'll be back for another stint in MLB before he's through.
terrisus said:
I was gonna go with Youkohama.
Rakuten's roster also includes Andruw Jones, Kaz Matsui and Takashi Saito, incidentally.
LeoCarrillo said:
Takashi Saito is still pitching!?! Not bad for a 44-year-old who avoided Tommy John surgery at 38 by getting platelet injections instead. It's a surprise that we haven't heard about more players getting platelet injections...
The Japanese broadcasters had better not mike Youkilis at bat, lest he strike out and deliver an internationally understood F bomb.
After 45 abs he is putting up 205/311/333. It seems as though there are fewer MLB players putting up big numbers over there. I remember guys like Randy Bass hitting like Babe Ruth. Even Gail Hopkins, who played sparingly for the Royals in the 70s, put up Harmon Killibrew numbers.
Balentien was once a top prospect who bashed at every level of the minors but was only given 500 at bats at the MLB level. Maybe he is just another Randy Bass putting up huge numbers against inferior competition, or maybe he's just a late bloomer who would've eventually exploded in the same way over here. It's quite easy to imagine an alternate history in which the single season home run record in NPB wasn't broken by Balentien, but by Chris Davis, or Joey Bats or . . . David Ortiz.
Orel Miraculous said:
Meh. Matt Murton has been (and continues to be) a beast in Japan. I think you'd be hard pressed to argue he would consistently put up anything even close to these numbers in MLB. I think these guys still exist.
Youk Heads to America.
Hopefully he can get healthy and return to Japan & keep playing, though I fear it won't be in time for the game I have tickets for in two weeks, Eagles @ Swallows.
Hopefully he can get healthy and return to Japan & keep playing, though I fear it won't be in time for the game I have tickets for in two weeks, Eagles @ Swallows.
Kind of of off-topic but if you type "Youkilis" into the Onion search engine there are several crude articles about him. Were there some runors/stories about him or was he just a random target of the Onion.
cromulence said:
Wily Mo Pena's got 13 HR's in 133 AB's this year for the Orix Buffaloes. There are definitely still big fish in smaller ponds there.
