Jesus Aguilar of the Oakland Athletics bats during the game against the Houston Astros at RingCentral Coliseum on May 27, 2023 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)
Former Major League Baseball first baseman Jesus Aguilar will play for the Seibu Lions during the 2024 Nippon Professional Baseball season on a one-year contract, Yahoo News Japan reported on December 18.
The organization has not yet announced the incentives for Aguilar’s contract for the 2024 season on their social media pages.
Aguilar, 33, was born in Maracay, Venezuela, and played 10 seasons in MLB. He elected free agency on November 6 prior to signing with the Seibu Lions.
Last season, Aguilar played with the Oakland Athletics, and appeared at the Florida Complex Level and Triple-A Gwinnett in the Atlanta Braves organization. With the Athletics, Aguilar suited up in 36 games with 115 plate appearances, batting .221 with 23 hits, two doubles, five home runs, nine RBI, eight walks, 31 strikeouts, and a .665 OPS prior to signing a minor league contract with the Braves on June 13.
Aguilar played in three games with 11 plate appearances recording four hits, two doubles, four RBI, three strikeouts, and .909 OPS prior to being called up to Triple-A Gwinnett on June 20. During his time with Gwinnett, Aguilar played in 56 games, batting .271 across 241 plate appearances, with 55 hits, seven doubles, five home runs, 34 RBI, 34 walks, 49 strikeouts, and a .753 OPS.
In 2022, Aguilar was with the Miami Marlins and the Baltimore Orioles. Aguilar played in 129 games with both organizations, batting .235 over 501 plate appearances, with 109 hits, 19 doubles, 16 home runs, 51 RBI, 28 walks, 119 strikeouts, and a .661 OPS.
Aguilar was selected in 2018 to the All-Star Game in Washington, D.C. at Nationals Park. Aguilar has played with the Cleveland Indians from 2014-16, the Milwaukee Brewers from 2017-19, the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019, and the Marlins from 2020-22 during his 10-year career in MLB. In his 10 seasons in MLB, Aguilar has played in 795 games with a lifetime average of .253, 594 hits, 107 doubles, two triples, 114 home runs, 402 RBI, 235 walks, 622 strikeouts, and a .655 OPS.
All 12 NPB teams will report to training camp during January. The Seibu Lions will host their first game of the 2024 NPB regular season against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles at the Belluna Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan on March 29. No start regular season game times have yet been announced by the league.