"The Milwaukee Brewers have exchanged contract proposals with Japanese outfielder Norichika Aoki, but general manager Doug Melvin said Saturday it was too early to tell if a deal could be worked out before the Tuesday deadline.

"We've made an offer to him and he gave us a proposal back," said Melvin, who has been negotiating with Nez Balelo, the agent for Aoki.

"That's where it's at. We're evaluating it. We're going to look at this vs. the other options out there with outfielders. We're still negotiating and exploring other options."

The Brewers have until 4 p.m. Tuesday to sign Aoki or lose negotiating rights to him. They won those rights by posting a winning bid of $2.5 million in December with the Yakult Swallows, the Japanese League team for which Aoki, 30, has played the past five seasons.

If a deal is not reached, Aoki returns to the Swallows and the Brewers get back their posting bid."