Former Guardians outfielder released by Padres, will play in NPB

A former member of the Cleveland Guardians is headed to Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. Outfielder Oscar Gonzalez has agreed to a deal with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles after being released by the San Diego Padres.

This comes after Gonzalez was placed on unconditional release waivers by the Padres, allowing Gonzalez the chance to catch on with a team in Japan. The deal between Gonzalez and his new NPB ballclub came together rather quickly after officially being released by San Diego.

Gonzalez burst onto the scene during the 2022 season, slashing .296/.327/.461 with 27 doubles and 11 home runs in 91 games for the Cleveland Guardians. For a brief moment, Gonzalez looked like he could be a key contributor to some of Cleveland's more impactful and consistent bats in their lineup. Unfortunately, his production wouldn't last, as his slash line cratered to .213/.239/.312 in 2023, while he only managed to hit 11 extra-base hits total (seven doubles, two triples, and two home runs) in 54 games.

The 27-year old Gonzalez spent last season as a player in the New York Yankees organization, playing all but five games for Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre. Gonzalez signed with the Padres this past offseason as a way to return to the majors, but his performance was not up to par.

In 21 games with San Diego, Gonzalez had 13 hits in 59 at-bats, with only one of those hits going for extra bases (a double). Strikeouts continued to be a problem for Gonzalez during his time with the Padres, striking out 21.3% of the time, just 0.2% less than his career average rate. Striking out this frequently while essentially never walking and hitting only one extra-base hit is not a combination any team wants in a player. Perhaps Gonzalez can work on a few things in Japan this year before attempting to return back to MLB, but his track record suggests that may not be all that likely.