Norichika Aoki has signed a 3 year deal with the Yakult Swallows yesterday, bringing the Japanese player back to Japan. Aoki was purchased by the Brewers from the Swallows in 2012. The next season he was traded to the Royals and then signed with the Giants. He then would be signed by teh Mariners, selected off waivers by the Astros traded to the Blue Jays, released, and finally signed by the Mets on September 2nd to finish the 2017 season.
At the time the Mets were desperate for outfield help (and to some degree, still are) as they traded away Bruce/Granderson, were without Cespedes/Conforto.
The next line originally said “Aoki quickly became a fan favorite” but honestly, in retrospect, it’s hard to tell.
Aoki was new. The Mets hadn’t acquired a major league player outside of Ramos to that point who wasn’t on the Mets roster previously. As we are seeing with this off-season, the idea of a “new” player is more exciting than a better player who was already with the team (example – Bruce is a fine player, but assembles the same team that the Mets have previously had).
Aoki had the Ghostbusters song as his walk-up music. Aoki was a ray of positive light for the month probably because he hit well for the Mets. He posted a .284/.371/.373 over 116 PA’s. In the season, 258 PA’s, he hit .274/.319/.402. He got on base, he scored runs, he was the player the Mets needed on a team going nowhere.
So Aoki was popular. But the team wasn’t. He was a fan-favorite on ship sinking into a lake of mediocrity, a season that fans will quiz each other about as an obscure, unmemorable year.
It was fun having Aoki on the Mets. Wishing him the best of luck on his homecoming.
