Veteran outfielder Gerardo Parra has reached an agreement to sign a contract with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, the Giants announced Wednesday (hat tip: Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker, on Twitter). The Giants have announced the move in a press release on their official web site. It’s a $2MM deal that includes a $3MM vesting option for 2021, per Jose Rivera of ESPN Deportes (via Twitter).
The 32-year-old Parra, a client of Octagon, won a World Series ring with the Nationals and will now head overseas for the next chapter of his career. He signed a minor league contract with San Francisco last offseason but ultimately landed with the Nats after being cut loose by MLB’s Giants.
Though he hit just .198/.278/.267 in 97 plate appearances during his abbreviated run with San Francisco, Parra found second life after latching on with the Nationals. In addition to posting a much-improved .250/.300/.447 batting line in 204 plate appearances with the eventual World Series champions, Parra won the hearts of Nationals fans when adopting “Baby Shark” as his walkup theme. That children’s song/internet phenomenon became something of an anthem and a rally cry at Nationals Park, serving as a memorable subplot in a storybook season for the entire organization.
Parra has played in parts of 11 Major League seasons — mostly with the Diamondbacks — and is a career .276/.323/.404 hitter with 88 home runs, 264 doubles, 42 triples and 96 stolen bases. He’s a two-time National League Gold Glove Award winner and, in addition to his time with Arizona, San Francisco and Washington, has also played for the Brewers, Orioles and Rockies at the MLB level.
Be careful. They love seafood in Japan!
Is it better to eat in or eat out? My wife wants to know?
Tell your wife that if it smells like fish, eat it.
You struggle with seafood? You must live in Montana. More then then likely you live in Lybia. Rainbow Trout with lemon is amazing. You must live in inner Mongolia. If you hate Rainbow Trout…
Vince I see the Baby Shark thing skyrocketed over your head. I live on the California coast. We have some seafood around here. By some I mean a lot. I feel like I have to be crystal clear when trying to communicate with ole bushman Vince. And trout taste too fishy.
I guess you haven’t lived on the California coast to long. There are more than Sharks in the Pacific. You’ve never had Rainbow Trout. You must really be from Nebraska.
And pork tastes too porky and steak too beefy?
Nebraska actually does have rainbow trout.
Really?
Vince I’ve lived in Montana, Lybia, and Mongolia and indeed I hate Rainbow Trout. You nailed it (thumbs up).
Wow. Didn’t see that coming. Good for Parra. To sign this quickly he must have received an amazing deal.
I agree, he must of got a great payday, to sign with Japan this early. The Baby Shark must be big over their
he wants to hit 30 bombs and he cant do that in the MLB so he will try in the NPB.
It’s all about the taxes. At this stage of his career, it’s a business decision.
Or a lifestyle choice. Japan is pretty cool and not many get the chance to get paid pretty well to play a game.
Very true
This is brilliant. They’re going to love him.
Good luck Parra!
Good riddance! As a Dodger fan that guy was always in the middle of breaking up a no hitter or in the middle of a fight. Hated him on all west coast teams he was on and felt weird rooting for him agaisnt the Astros but good for him and you guys are right this came out left field best of luck
I felt like he killed the Giants when he was with the DBacks
That grand slam in his first AB as a National to win the game must not have felt too good to Dodger fans either.
No denying it, his signing was a top 5 ingredient in the Nats turn around and ultimate Series win. Very surprised he didn’t come back. Nats must have caught lowball-itis once again.
Gonna miss the Baby Shark. GL in the land of the rising sun… don’t end up in some shark fin soup…
I’ll always remember the Hong Chi Kuo incident.
Thought he’d have made a nice fourth OF on the Mets bench.
He’ll get some ABs over there for sure. Probably doesnt want to waste away to 100-250 PAs a season.
This is the first explanation I’ve seen of what the baby shark thing is; all the previous articles it’s been mentioned in have just called it a phenomenon.
My three-year-old rolls her eyes and says it’s lame (“tiburón bebé” here in México) whenever some adult starts singing it and making those shark gestures hoping to win her over. I trust her judgement. Lame.
Scoreboard.
Your daughter sounds cooler than most adults.
Free agency just got started and he’s coming off a semi-noticeable season with the World Series champs. Kinda early to give up on his search for a Major League gig, no?
Unless he just really wanted to try a season in Japan…
He is probably headed over for a good payday and a chance to be a starter, neither of which he was likely to get here. Smart move on his part.
The Yomiuri Giants are the top club in NPB.
I’d take the opportunity. Get to play for a top franchise, live in Tokyo, most likely get a decent amount of at bats.
Sounds like a great chance for him. Hopefully he does well over there.
SoftBank Hawks are pretty clearly the top club in the NPB right now.
Excuse me , but the ‘top’ team over there happens to be the SoftBank Hawks who have won the Climax series 5 of the last 6 years and just swept the Giants a few weeks ago.
I should of said “a top club” with regards to their history.
My mistake.
No problem. It’s just that so few know what goes on over there.
This is why I read the comments
He’s already beat this game.
I got you an outfielder. He played with the Giants. Uh…not those Giants.
You win the internet today!
ML 2 reference for the win!
If you are insinuating that it’s minor league baseball, I will assume you didn’t catch last years All-Star team that went over there and won 1 game. The Hawks could play any, and I mean any one of the 30 teams here and win 2 out of 3 every week.
You’re not actually insinuating that an NPB team is better than ALL MLB teams are you?
Not at all. What I am saying is that so many people discount Japanese baseball without any knowledge of the quality of the play. Yet, when a Ohtani, Matsui, Ichiro, Meada come over here, they must think it’s some sort of fluke. I stick by what I said; The SoftBank Hawks can come here to play and easily win games vs any team. It is not AAA baseball, period. It’s easy to watch them or any other team on YouTube. Decide for yourself. Mattingly saw for himself. His All-Star Team was stacked and managed to win one game. He smiled and said, “These guys are pretty good.”
Perfection.
Rendon and Strasburg are both going elsewhere. This was the official signal.
Oh no!! How will MLB survive!!
Kinda surprised he’s not coming back to the Nats
You would have thought he would have came back
Parra: Any interest from MLB teams?
Agent: Not a nibble.
Parra: Let’s swim away.
Agent: Japan?
Parra: Swim away!
Agent: $2MM!
Parra: Swim faster!
Together: Swim faster!
Safe at last!
If anyone understood the tax ramifications they would understand how lucrative playing over there is.
Hard to see him getting Japanese players to dance in the dugout.
You have no idea what goes on inside a Japanese baseball stadium. YouTube it.
I’ve been. It is awesome!
Has anyone else put up a 5.7 WAR season, played at least a decade, and finished with less than 12 WAR for their career?
Wonder what song they’ll play as his fan chant walkout song?
bing.com/videos/search?q=baby+shark+in+japanese�…
Doo doo doo doo doo translates well
Para stole that idea from Elvis Andrus…..
Dude went from a contract release to a World Champion. Now hes cashing in on that. The Nippon League is going to eat the Baby Shark thing up. Good for him and his family.