Cron signed a minor league contract with the Athletics last November and has been released after batting just .133 (6-for-45) with six RBI across 10 games for Triple-A Las Vegas.

Cron spent the last two years overseas with the SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization and the Hiroshima Carp of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. The 29-year-old slugger will compete for a roster spot with the rebuilding Athletics this spring. He last appeared in the big leagues with the Diamondbacks during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign and holds a .170/.245/.420 triple-slash line with six homers in 98 plate appearances over 47 games in the majors.

Cron, the younger brother of Rockies slugger C.J. Cron spent the 2021 campaign with the Hiroshima Carp of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball and will remain overseas for 2022 as well. The 28-year-old first baseman/outfielder appeared in 47 games with the Diamondbacks from 2019 to 2020.

It was odd news when the MLB.com transactions page listed the team as having released the slugging first baseman, so this makes more sense. It doesn't necessarily make sense to sell a potentially contributing hitter in a baseball sense, mind you, but in the context of the 2020 offseason in which MLB teams are mostly interested in their own bottom line it's easier to understand. The 27-year-old has struggled with MLB pitching but owns prodigious power and could be a star in the NPB against lesser competition.