The Rakuten Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball signed Gonzalez to a two-year, $2 million contract Thursday, Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reports.
ANALYSIS The Padres granted Gonzalez's request to be released earlier this week so that the outfielder could get a better opportunity and more money overseas. Gonzalez posted a .483 OPS over 21 games during his time with the Padres.