First baseman-outfielder Yoshitomo Tsutsugo of the U.S. independent league's Staten Island FerryHawks has agreed to a minor league deal with the San Francisco Giants, sources familiar with the matter said Sunday.
The 2016 home run and RBI leader in Japan's Central League with the DeNA BayStars, Tsutsugo was released by a minor league affiliate of the Texas Rangers in June and began to play in the independent league two months later.
In a total of 182 major league games for the Tampa Bay Rays, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates between 2020 and 2022, Tsutsugo struggled to a .197 batting average with 18 home runs and 75 RBIs.
Tsutsugo batted cleanup for Japan during he 2017 World Baseball Classic.