PT TOMORROW: AL West—Whither Nori Aoki?
Jun 28 2016
Last week's demotion of Norichika Aoki (OF, SEA) to AAA-Tacoma was surprising only on the surface, in that it seemed unusual for an "established" veteran with an MLB contract. On the business side, Aoki had options remaining in what is his fifth MLB season, and couldn't have refused the assignment without jeopardizing a guaranteed $5.5M in the event of his release. And Aoki's production to date has been so anemic that SEA may have made that move without giving it much thought. Now 34, Aoki's strong ct% has slipped only marginally, down to 88%. But a combination of plunging power metrics (40/15 PX/xPX), 62% HctX, declining h% and career-low .245 BA say that his contact is softer than ever. In addition, what was once a...
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