Aoki for 2018

[Mex17]

Figure that Conforto is going to miss the first month. Nimmo I think has proven that he belongs in the majors, so give him a roster spot. I think that they are going to concentrate more on defense now that the "five fireballing aces in the rotation" idea pretty much failed, so think that there is going to be a more accepting view of putting him out there more regularly. So, not that I would be upset with bringing Bruce back or going hard after J.D. Martinez, but I can live with a Cespedes/Conforto/Lagares/Nimmo/Aoki outfield with Aoki playing a lot of April and then coming off the bench when Conforto gets back. I bet that his bat is consistent enough that he can be a reliable pinch hitter as opposed to an "all or nothing" power hitter in that role.

What say you? And for what price for Aoki?

[Frayed Knot]

Aoki, if you bring him back, is your fifth OF - so the answer as to what to pay him is 'Not Much'.
I'm not really sure what 'Not Much' even constitutes these days but I'm not going to spend much time worrying over it.

On the plus side of deciding whether or not we want to keep him at all is that he gets on base, always seems to hustle, and can still run a bit.
On the flip side: he'll turn 36 just after New Years; he's not a particularly good fielder; he brings next to no power [33 HRs in over 3,000 PA]

So that makes him an OK fill-in for injuries and days off plus I guess as a PH off the bench when you need a walk/single.
Guys like that were more valuable and more plentiful back when bullpens were smaller and benches were longer but these days that's not exactly a 'must have' tool in your shed.

He was needed this year because we suddenly went from four OFs to zero inside about a two week span when Grandy & Bruce were traded just as Cespedes and Conforto went out for the count.
Now certainly they'll need someone to fill the 5th OF role and I wouldn't not consider him, but I suspect they'll look elsewhere too.

[Edgy MD]

Well, if he's right about Conforto missing the first month, which is probably neither optimistic nor pessimistic, Aoki is somewhere between numbers two and four for the first chunk o' the season, unless they bring in a bigger shot than him.

Catastrophic late-season injuries are doubly bad because they don't allow you much of a picture into what you'll have on April 1.

[Frayed Knot]

I think you have to plan as if Conforto is NOT going to be available in April so you're going to need [u:2d45y2sa]someone[/u:2d45y2sa] out there early on. Whether that someone is named Aoki or NotAoki remains to be seen.
It would be nice if he could be the LH platoon with Lagares but he's not a good enough glove to put in CF except as an emergency, nor is sticking Nimmo's less than impressive arm in RF ideal either.

[ashie62]

I'd like to believe we can do better than Aoki.