Dayán Viciedo Pérez

Professional Cuban baseball infielder for the Chunichi Dragons of the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB). He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Chicago White Sox.

Born in Remedios, Villa Clara, he entered Cuba's National Series at age 15 playing for his province. In the national series he was often compared to Cuban legend Omar Linares, his idol.

Viciedo had problems in his first season in the national series, batting only .243 during the first 50 games of the season. However, in his second season, at sixteen years old, he batted .337 with 14 home runs.

Viciedo was selected for Cuba's provisional roster of 60 players for the 2006 World Baseball Classic, but was not included in the final team. On May 20, 2008, Viciedo defected from Cuba with his family on a boat headed to Mexico.

Once in Mexico he crossed the border to the United States and went to Miami where he reunited with some relatives. He was approved as a free agent by Major League Baseball on November 10, 2008.

Viciedo agreed to a four-year, $10 million contract with the Chicago White Sox on December 12, 2008. The contract included a $4 million signing bonus and paid $1 million in 2009, $1.25 million in 2010 and 2011, as well as $2.5 million in 2012. This signing with the White Sox reunited him with his Cuban countryman Alexei Ramírez.

Minor Leagues
Viciedo began the 2009 season with the Birmingham Barons, the Double-A affiliate of the Southern League. During the season, he batted .280 with 12 home runs and 78 runs batted in.

Viciedo was batting .290, with 14 home runs and 34 runs batted in 238 at-bats with Triple-A Charlotte Knights before being called up by the Chicago White Sox on June 17, 2010. He finished the season with .274 with 20 home runs and 47 runs batted in 343 at-bats.

Viciedo was moved to right field at the beginning of the 2011 season, in an attempt to bring him to the Major Leagues faster. He was batting .296, with 20 home runs and 78 runs batted in 452 at-bats with Triple-A Charlotte Knights before being called up by the White Sox on August 26, 2011 due to an injury to Carlos Quentin.

Chicago White Sox
Dayán Viciedo joined the White Sox for their 2009 spring training, but did not make the initial roster and was sent to the Birmingham Barons Double-A to open the 2009 season. He was invited again to Spring Training in 2010. On June 17, 2010, it was announced that Viciedo would be called up. In his first Major League game against the Washington Nationals, he recorded his first hit on the way to a 6-3 White Sox victory. Viciedo recorded his first Major League home run on July 5, 2010 against Scott Kazmir of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and two days later, on July 7, he recorded his first double in his career against Joe Saunders of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In 2010, he played in 38 games and batted .308 with 5 home runs and 13 runs batted in. In 2011, he appeared in 29 games and batted .255 with 1 home run and 6 runs batted in. He would assume a starting role in 2012 and reach career highs with games played (147), home runs (25) and runs batted in (78) while recording a batting average of .255.

In 2013, Viciedo suffered a muscle injury in April that required a 15-day stint on the injured list. In 124 games he batted .265 with 14 home runs and 56 runs batted in. 2014 saw Viciedo play in 145 games, batting a career-low .231 with 21 home runs and 58 runs batted in. He signed a one-year contract worth $4.4 million with the White Sox on January 12, 2015, to avoid arbitration. However, he was designated for assignment on January 28, and released on February 4.

Toronto Blue Jays
On March 1, 2015, Viciedo signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. He would have earned $2.5 million if he had been on the 25-man roster, however he requested and was granted his release on March 31.

Oakland Athletics
On June 12, 2015, Viciedo signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics. He was released on July 30 after batting just .221 in 113 at-bats for the Athletics' AAA club, the Nashville Sounds.

Second Stint with the White Sox
On August 1, 2015, he signed a minor league contract to return to the White Sox.

Chunichi Dragons
On December 1, 2015, he signed a one-year, $1.4 million contract with the Chunichi Dragons. He began his Japanese career here batting a Japanese record for a foreign player, with three home runs in his first three opening games against the Hanshin Tigers at Kyocera Dome. Viciedo was selected for the Central League in the 2016 NPB All-Star Game as a reserve at first base.

In the 2018 NPB season, Viciedo batted .348/.419/.555 with 26 home runs to claim the batting average and hits title leading to selection in the Central League's best 9. On December 12, 2018, it was announced that he had signed a new 3-year deal with the Dragons with a total value of ¥1.1 billion ($9.9 million).

In 2020, what should be his final season in Japanese baseball, Dayán Viciedo continues to reaffirm his candidacy as one of the best Caribbean ballplayers to ever play in Japanese baseball, as he became the first Cuban to win a Gold Glove in that league. After so many decades and with 34 Cuban players who have played in the land of the rising sun, there is no doubt that the Villa Clara native deserves a place of honor, perhaps among the three best ballplayers from the Island in terms of performance in those leagues. In this year 2020, Dayán Viciedo has also been named the best defensive first baseman of the Central League in the 2020 season.

Being the first Cuban to win a Gold Glove in the Japanese league is another achievement for the more than distinguished career of a player who debuted in Cuba as a teenager and has become a mature slugger and, as he now demonstrates, also a great defender at first base.