Japanese team buys Bryan LaHair from Cubs for $950,000, signs LaHair to $4.5 million deal
By Aaron GleemanNov 22, 2012, 11:25 AM EST
When the Cubs designated Bryan LaHair for assignment earlier this week it was reportedly because they were working on a deal to send the first baseman to Japan and now we have the details of that agreement.
According to ESPN Chicago he'll get a two-year, $4.5 million contract to join the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and the Cubs will get $950,000 in cash to part with LaHair.
LaHair slumped horribly after making the All-Star team as a 29-year-old rookie, but he's still a .260 hitter with 21 homers and a .764 OPS in 195 total big-league games and has consistently crushed Triple-A pitching for years.
I'll be very surprised if he doesn't put up huge numbers in Japan and, who knows, maybe in a couple years another MLB team will feel like taking a flier on him as a cheap bench bat or platoon starter.