Earlier today, former All-Star Kevin Youkilis agreed to a contract with the Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball League, and will spend next year playing in Japan. The contract he signed is worth $4 million over just the one year, and there is $1 million of earnable incentive money. Youkilis spent last year with the Yankees but was only able to stay on the field for 28 games as he battled injuries all year long. Over those 28 games, Youkilis was only able to manage a .219 average with 2 HRs. Youkilis has been better in past years, but every year seems to deal with injuries at some point during the season. He will hope that a season in Japan can bring him back to his old form from 2008-2010 when he hit over .300 with an OBP over .390 in all three years and clubbed 75 homers. He insisted that this year will be his last year playing baseball, but a good year could possibly change that. Rakuten is also the same team that is currently deciding whether or not to post ace Masahiro Tanaka which would allow him to pitch in the MLB next year. Rakuten is coming off a championship victory last year and will only get better with adding Youkilis to their lineup. Their true fate still depends on whether or not Tanaka is posted but if he in fact is, Youkilis could lighten the blow a little.