IBC

Nikkan Sports reports that Kevin Youkilis has signed a contract with Japan's Rakuten Golden Eagles.

His agent, Joe Bick, confirmed the report with MLBTradeRumors.com. Youkilis' OPS has dropped for three straight seasons all the way down to .648 in 2013, when he was limited to just 28 games due to injury. Still, it's a bit surprising that no major league team was willing to give him a shot. The 34-year-old is coming off of June back surgery but should be healthy by now.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/3588/kevin-youkilis

Nikkan Sports reports that Hisanori Takahashi will sign a contract with the Yokohama BayStars.

Takahashi's major league career got off to a promising start, but he really struggled over the last two seasons, putting up a 5.57 ERA over 54 appearances. The 38-year-old figures to stay back in Japan for good.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/610 ... -takahashi

Chris Volstad is close to signing with the Doosan Bears of the Korean Baseball Organization, according to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net.

Volstad signed a minor league contract with the Angels in November, but he has apparently found a more appealing opportunity oversees. The 27-year-old right-hander only threw 8 1/3 innings at the major league level this past season with the Rockies and had a 4.58 ERA over 127 2/3 innings in Triple-A.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/4165/chris-volstad

Chris Narveson has signed with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Japan's Central League.

Narveson, 32, has been limited to just four appearances in the majors over the past two seasons due to shoulder issues. He'll attempt to get his career back on track in Japan.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/515/chris-narveson

Guillermo Moscoso has agreed to a contract with Nippon Professional Baseball's Yokohama Bay Stars.

Moscoso was cut loose by the Giants in November after posting a rough 5.10 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 31/21 K/BB ratio across 30 innings of work in 2013. The exact financial terms of his deal with Yokohama have not been disclosed. It's presumably a one-year contract.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/570 ... mo-moscoso

Rays released 1B Leslie Anderson.

Anderson is set to sign with a team in Asia. The 31-year-old Cuban defector batted .292/.372/.459 with 14 homers and 74 RBI last season at Triple-A Durham.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/619 ... e-anderson

Travis Blackley has signed a one-year contract with Japan's Rakuten Golden Eagles.

Blackey posted a 4.83 ERA and 1.35 WHIP over 50 1/3 innings for the Astros and Rangers this past season. The 31-year-old is reportedly getting nearly $2 million from Rakuten, which is way more than he was going to receive from a major league club.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/390 ... s-blackley

Too bad, he would have gotten a cute projection this year I bet.

Athletics wrote:Too bad, he would have gotten a cute projection this year I bet.

Cute projection?

FYI: 2014 Foreign Player List [Korea Baseball Organization]

posted Dec 13, 2013, 3:00 PM by mykbonet . [ updated Jan 5, 2014, 10:17 PM ]

Doosan: Jorge Cantu(IF), Dustin Nippert (P), Chris Volstad (P)

Hanwha: Caleb Clay (P), Felix Pie (OF),

KIA: Jairo Asencio(P), Brett Pill (IF), DJ Houlton (P)

Nexen: Brandon Knight (P), Andy VanHekken (P), Vinny Rottino (IF/OF)

LG: Radhames Liz (P), Josh Bell (IF)

Lotte: Shane Youman (P), Chris Oxspring (P), Luis Jimenez (IF)

NC: Charlie Shirek (P), Eric Hacker (P), Eric Thames (OF), Thad Weber (P)

SK: Jo-Jo Reyes (P), Ross Wolf (P), Luke Scott (DH/1B/OF)

Samsung: Rick VandenHurk (P), JD Martin (P), Yamaico Navvaro

http://www.mykbo.net/Foreigners

Josh Bell has officially signed on with Korea's LG Twins.

The deal was reported last week and has now become official. Bell had agreed to a minor league deal with the Dodgers last month but will get a nice bump in salary by playing overseas.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/4674/josh-bell

Korea's LG Twins have signed Cory Riordan.

A former sixth-round pick, Riordan's career in the states was going nowhere, as he posted a 6.17 ERA over 89 frames this past season as a 27-year-old between Double- and Triple-A. He'll now see if he can have better luck overseas.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/6559/cory-riordan

Giants released RHP Caleb Clay.

The 25-year-old right-hander will sign with Hanwha in the Korean Baseball Organization. It's a bit of a surprise move, after he posted a terrific 2.96 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 110/31 K/BB ratio over 158 1/3 innings between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse in 2013.

http://bcmbladmin.proboards.com/post/new/3242

The KBO's Hanwha Eagles have agreed to a contract with Andrew Albers, reports Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors.

Albers, 27, had a 4.05 ERA and 25/7 K/BB ratio in 60 innings over 10 starts with the Twins last season. He jumped out to a 2-0 start by beginning his career with 17 1/3 scoreless innings but sharply regressed towards the mean thereafter. He's a soft-tossing Canadian control artist who wasn't in Minnesota's long-term plans because he doesn't have swing-and-miss stuff.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/7541/andrew-albers

According to Craig Robinson of FlipFlopFlying.com, Jonathan Albaladejo will pitch for the Diablos Rojosin the Mexican League in 2014.

The 31-year-old hurler spent the 2013 season in the Marlins organization, where he posted a 3.80 ERA, 1.45 WHIP and 72/23 K/BB ratio over 73 1/3 innings of work at Triple-A New Orleans.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/528 ... albaladejo