Eagles linked with swoop for star Jones

A number of former major leaguers have signed with Japanese teams this offseason, but they pale in comparison to the star the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles may have lured to Sendai.

According to reports from Nikkan Sports, the Eagles have reached an agreement with veteran outfielder Andruw Jones on a one-year deal in the neighborhood of ?300 million. An announcement is expected soon, pending the results of a physical.

In terms of star power, the 35-year-old Jones would represent the biggest signing by an NPB team in some while.

Jones mostly made his name by making spectacular plays in the Atlanta Braves outfield, where he was a Gold Glove winner from 1998-2007. His 24.1 defensive wins above replacement (defensive WAR), according to Baseball Reference, is tied with Hall of Famer George Davis as the 19th best all-time.

Jones is five-time All-Star with a career .254 batting average, 434 home runs, 1,289 RBIs and a 59.5 WAR over 17 seasons with the Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees.

He posted the best season of his career in 2005, hitting .263 with a .922 on-base plus slugging percentage while leading the majors with 51 homers and 128 RBIs. He finished second in the National League MVP voting to the St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols that season but was named the Major League Player of the Year by the Major League Baseball Players Association and won his only Silver Slugger Award.

Jones found little success after leaving the Braves following the 2008 season, never managing a WAR above 1.7 at any of his stops after putting up a 58.4 in 12 seasons with the Braves.

Jones heads to Japan on the heels of an unremarkable two-year stint with the Yankees, hitting .220 with 27 home runs and 67 RBIs in 171 games with the Bronx Bombers.

The Eagles could use the Jones of old. Rakuten hit an NPB-low 52 home runs last season, with Kazuo Matsui and Akihisa Makida leading the way with nine each. Makida and the recently-released Jose Fernandez were the only two Eagles to drive in more than 50 runs.

If all goes according to plan, Jones could take up residence somewhere in the middles of the Eagles' lineup.

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Jones livid after loss to Barbarians

Japan coach Eddie Jones tore into his team following a 40-21 loss to the French Barbarians on Wednesday, threatening to resign if he does not see a change in the attitude of the players.

The defeat followed three straight losses at home to Fiji, Tonga and Samoa in the Pacific Nations Cup and Jones, who took over for John Kirwan at the start of the year, did not like what he saw from the Brave Blossoms who were not at full strength, featuring several inexperienced players.

"It was disgusting today," the former Wallabies boss said. "There's no other way to look at it. We had 15 players out there who did not put their bodies on the line, and that's my fault as coach.

"We can't train any harder, we can't train with any more intent. Players understand the game plan, but they weren't physical. How you can play rugby and not be physical?"

When captain Toshiaki Hirose laughed as he stumbled for words, Jones' temper reached the boiling point. Hirose was nearly in tears as the Australian continued to unload on the team.

"It's not funny!" he said. "That's the problem with Japanese rugby, seriously. We're not serious about winning. If we want to win, we have to go out and physically smash people."

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Jones named new Japan rugby coach

The Japan Rugby Football Union on Monday announced the appointments of Eddie Jones as head coach of the national team and Masahiro Kunda as assistant coach.

Jones took his native Australia to the final of the 2003 World Cup against England and was also on board as technical advisor for South Africa's World Cup-winning campaign four years later.

"I'm very excited and honored to have the job as head coach of Japan," said the 51-year-old boss of Suntory Sungoliath from the Japanese Top League.

"The first thing we're going to have to do is to win. I want Japan to win and be in the top 10 in the world. We need to develop a solid play that suits Japanese players."

Japan, currently 15th in the world rankings, has set two main goals: to break into the top 10 in the world toward the 2015 World Cup in England and to reach the knockout stage of the 2019 tournament as hosts.

"We've got a very big challenge ahead us," Jones said.

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