Infielder Alex Guerrero, who hit the most home runs in the Central League this past season, is leaving the Chunichi Dragons after failing to reach an agreement on a new deal, the club said Saturday.
"We had been in talks with an eye on keeping (Guerrero) at the club and it is a shame that we weren't able to come to an agreement," said Chunichi team representative Kazuo Nishiyama.
The 31-year-old Guerrero joined Chunichi on a one-year deal worth ¥150 million (about $1.3 million) plus incentives in November 2016. This year, the former Los Angeles Dodgers player led the Central League with 35 home runs and had a .279 batting average with 86 RBIs in 130 games.
The Cuban slugger said when leaving Japan in October that he wanted to stay in the country next season and beyond but wanted to play for a team that would offer a three-year plus contract with the best financial terms.
Guerrero played in 117 major league games for the Dodgers over the 2014 and '15 seasons, batting .224 with 11 home runs. He missed much of the 2016 season with a knee injury and was released during the summer.
