Former White Sox outfielder Dayán Viciedo is retiring, according to a post from Yakyu Cosmopolitan. Viciedo is currently with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He will retire after today’s game.
Viciedo defected to Cuba in March 2008 and was declared a free agent by MLB in November of that year. He signed a four-year, $10MM contract with the White Sox that December. Viciedo spent 2009 in Double-A before moving up to Triple-A and finding himself at the top of the Majors. He started playing for the White Sox in June 2010 at the age of 21.
Viciedo had just 106 plate appearances in 38 games that year, but impressed with a .309 batting average and 122 wRC+. He saw little playing time in 2011, posting a 78 wRC+ in 29 games. Viciedo finally earned a starting role in 2012 and posted his best season as a senior player. In 543 plate appearances, Viciedo hit .255/.300/.444 with 25 home runs and a wRC+ of 98 as the primary left fielder for the White Sox. He also contributed defensively with Defensive Runs Saved en route to a 0.8 fWAR season.
Viciedo followed that up by slashing a nearly identical .265/.304/.426 in 473 plate appearances in 2013, missing three weeks with a strained left oblique. That was good for another 98 wRC+, though Viciedo’s defense dipped a bit (-2 DRS) and hurt his overall value. The 2014 season had major consequences. Viciedo hit 21 home runs, but his overall .231/.281/.405 line was good for just a 90 wRC+. In addition, his once effective defense has turned into an offense, FanGraphs has Viciedo at -15 DRS among the outside corners.
Chicago avoided dealing Viciedo with a $4.4MM deal in January 2015 but optioned him to assignment that month. He split that year with the Blue Jays, Athletics, and White Sox in the minor leagues, posting a 124 wRC+ in Triple-A. However, he did not return to the Majors.
That left Viciedo with a .254/.298/.424 career line and 66 home runs in 483 MLB games. However, his playing career was far from over. Viciedo made Nippon Professional Baseball by signing a one-year contract with the Chunichi Dragons for the 2016 season. He quickly found success, posting a .274/.352/.486 line with 22 home runs in 119 games and earning an NPB All-Star selection. Viciedo followed that up with 18 home runs in 87 games for the Dragons in 2017.
The 2018-19 seasons were the culmination of what would eventually be an 11-year career at NPB. Viciedo hit .348/.419/.555 with a 165 wRC+ in 2018. His output that year also included 26 home runs and 99 runs batted in, both career highs. Viciedo was honored as one of the best in the Central League for his play that year, earning himself a three-year extension in the process. In 2019, Viciedo had another excellent season, posting a wRC+ of 140 and scoring 18 runs in 143 games.
He would never reach those heights again, but Viciedo continued to produce as he played well into his 30s. He posted an OPS between .766 and .792 every season since 2020-22, hitting a total of 48 home runs and 215 RBI in that span. The 2022 season was Viciedo’s last as a productive regular player, as he hit 294/.355/.437 with a 136 wRC+ for the Dragons.
From 2023 until now, Viciedo settled as a part-time player. He stayed with the Dragons from 2023-24 and earned his 1,000th career NPB in September 2023. Viciedo became the first foreign-born player in Dragons history to achieve that feat. After playing in just 15 games in 2024, Viciedo joined the BayStars in 2025 and posted a 110 wRC+ in 43 games that year. He is hitting .269/.310/.385 so far in 2026, which will end up being the final season of his career.
Overall, Viciedo finishes his NPB career hitting .286/.352/.457 with 1,040 hits and 142 home runs in 4,046 plate appearances. His career salary in MLB was $13.3MM, followed by more than $11.3MM in Japan. We at MLBTR congratulate Viciedo on a great playing career and wish him the best in his retirement.
Photo courtesy of Jerry Lai, Imagn Images
