It's a rough time to be a player looking for major-league at-bats as a designated hitter. Johnny Damon is still floating around, as is Hideki Matsui. Vladimir Guerrero is another of the silver-slugger/iron-glove types still looking for a job, and he's considering going to another country to get it. From Jon Heyman:
Vladimir Guerrero Considering Playing In Japan
Vladimir guerrero will wait for job til end of spring. if none comes he’ll explore japan. Agent fern cuza: “He still wants to play.“This would be amazing. I’m not sure if a bigger star has ever gone over to Japan, and I’m pretty sure that Vlad is a perfect match for the strike-throwing, walk-fearing style of the NPB. First guess at his numbers: .398/.397/.668.
Of course, a lot of players say that they'll go to Japan -- Manny Ramirez was one of them -- but not everyone follows up on those claims. Still, if Vlad doesn't want to settle for a bench job, and if he still wants to play, Japan might be the best option. It's certainly our most entertaining option.
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