Swallows accept high bid for Aoki

NEW YORK — The Tokyo Yakult Swallows accepted Saturday a Major League Baseball bid on outfielder Norichika Aoki, who had been posted for auction, team president Tsuyoshi Kinugasa said.

Kinugasa indicated that the bid was $2.5 million (around ?200 million).

After Friday's 5 p.m. EST deadline, MLB said Aoki received at least one bid through the posting system but without specifying the club or the amount in accordance with its regulations.

The winning MLB club will have 30 days of exclusive negotiating rights to strike a deal with Aoki after Yakult communicates its reply.

Three-time batting title winner Aoki will turn 30 in January. His career batting average is .329 over eight seasons, all with the Swallows.

Aoki is the only player in Japanese baseball history to have had two 200-hit seasons. He reached 500 career hits in 373 games, 30 fewer than Ichiro Suzuki.

In 2011, Aoki batted .292 with four home runs and 44 RBIs in 144 games.

View the original article here

Lions plan to accept Nakajima bid

The Seibu Lions will officially accept the posting bid for shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima on Wednesday morning, the Pacific League team announced Tuesday.

The Lions have not divulged the posting fee, but had indicated that they were prepared to accept. Major League Baseball said at least one club bid for the sweet-hitting Seibu captain.

The San Francisco Giants reportedly made a bid, and the New York Mets, who will have a vacancy at shortstop after Jose Reyes agreed to a deal with the Florida Marlins, have also been mentioned as a possible destination for the 29-year-old Nakajima.

The bid winner has 30 days to work out a deal with Nakajima, who batted .297 with 16 homers and 100 RBIs this season.

View the original article here