Akiyama agreed Sunday with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball on a three-year contract, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.
A return to his native Japan always looked to be a likely outcome for Akiyama after he opted out of his minor-league contract with the Padres earlier this month. The 34-year-old outfielder signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the Reds in January 2020, but he never made much of a splash in North America. He didn't appear in any MLB games in 2022 and slashed .224/.320/.274 across 366 career plate appearances with Cincinnati.