Shigekazu Mori who is a new manager of the Chunichi Dragons announced the contract with former Los Angeles Dodgers Alex Guerrero in November 25 2016. Guerrero signed the contract with the Dragons of 1 year and his annual salary is 150 million yen. His uniform number is 42. And the Dragons extended the contract with Dayan Viciedo. Viciedo signed the contract with the Dragons of 2 year and his annual salary is 170 million yen. Guerrero and Viciedo defected from Cuba each other and they strangely became teammates in Japan professional baseball.
Alex Guerrero ’s biography is that he’s the age of 30, and he was born at Cuba. He became a professional player in domestic league of Cuba on 2005. In January 2013, he defected from Cuba and obtained residency in Haiti. Then he contracted with the Los Angeles Dodgers in October 2013. He signed the contract with Dodgers of 4 years and his total salary was 28 million dollars.
Guerrero debuted in the Major League Baseball in 2014 season, but he played most of the season in the Minor League. In Triple-A, he was beaten by Miguel Olivo and he was biting his ears. So he underwent plastic surgery and has withdrawn from long term. In 2015 season, he played 106 games at the Dodgers. His stats was 233. average. 11 home runs and 35 RBI. But in 2016 season, he hurt his knees with spring training and he played only 16 games in the Minor League. Guerrero was a left fielder and a third baseman.
Dayan Viciedo ’s biography is that he’s the age of 27, and he was born at Cuba. He became a professional player in domestic league of Cuba on 2004. In May 2008, He defected from Cuba to United States of America on a raft. And he contracted with the Chicago White Sox in December 2008. He signed the contract with White Sox of 4 years and his total salary was 10 million dollars.
Viciedo debuted in the Major League Baseball in 2010 season, and played in the White Sox until 2014. His stats were 25 home runs in 2012 and 21 home runs in 2014, these were the best stats for him in MLB. Then he played in the the Minor League 2015 season, and transfered to the Dragons. He signed the contract with the Dragons of 1 year and his annual salary was 170 million yen. He played 119 games in 2016 season and made 22th home run. So he also participated in the all-star game. Viciedo was a outfielder in MLB, but he played in the first baseman in Japan.
Why did they come to Japan professional baseball? It is because of Mori’s scout. Mori had a coach of the Dragons since 2004 and inspected the winter league of dominican republic every year. So he scouted Maximo Nelson, Tony Blanco and Viciedo and they contracted with the Dragons. Mori inspected the winter league in this year, but he came to Miami on the way to Dominica. Then he checked Guerrero’s play and made the contract.
This youtube’s video is a home run of Guerrero in 2015. If they will be cleanup and make many home runs, the Dragons will win the championship the first time in six years, on 2017 season.
