Arizona Diamondbacks: Kevin Cron makes a wise career choice

Former Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Kevin Cron is heading to Japan for the 2021 season.

Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Kevin Cron may be the first player to make the switch from Major League Baseball to the NPB in Japan this offseason, but he certainly won’t be the last player to do so.

The Diamondbacks officially released Cron on October 30th and his rights have been sold to the NPB, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. The power-hitting first baseman will now have an opportunity to showcase his powerful bat in a bigger role, and likely find his pockets a little heavier.

In what is becoming a more popular decision among fringe major leaguers or once-promising players who have seemed to hit a wall, Cron’s move to Japan is the right career choice to make at this point in his baseball journey.

Originally a 14th-round pick out of TCU (and the brother of current free agent slugger C.J. Cron), Kevin Cron is a career .280 hitter across his six-year minor league career with 151 home runs, 155 doubles, and a career .348 on-base percentage.

In 82 Triple-A games last season, Cron hit 38 home runs with 105 RBI and slashed .331/.449/.777. He finally made his MLB debut that season at age 26 and showcased a bit of power at the plate, hitting six home runs in 71 at-bats.

Unfortunately, the Arizona Diamondbacks clearly didn’t see Cron in their future plans and he was unable to take advantage of the newly installed DH option in the National League. Cron appeared in only eight games of major league action in 2020. He went 0-17 with a walk.

Cron has found success at every level of the minor leagues since entering the professional ranks and with his immense power, there’s a good chance he finds success overseas with an opportunity to earn regular playing time.

If he can find immediate success and the National League does in fact end up permanently adopting the designated hitter, Cron is young enough to eventually find his way back onto a major league roster. In the meantime, he can make more money in Japan than a lot of free agents will receive here in the United States.

Perhaps he does become an instant hit overseas and then finds himself in a similar situation to current free agent Dan Straily. Straily went from serving up batting practice with the Baltimore Orioles to becoming one of the top pitchers in Korea in 2020. Now he’s faced with a tough decision, either return to an MLB team who may show interest in him for next season, or return to the KBO where he’s a force to be reckoned with, while pocketing $1 million+ per season.

With no options left with the Arizona Diamondbacks and an uncertain future awaiting MLB free agents, Kevin Cron is making the right career choice by heading to Japan.