White Sox: Yermin Mercedes hints baseball career could be headed abroad

Chicago White Sox slugger Yermin Mercedes hinted he could be headed to Japan in the next chapter of his baseball career.

Earlier this season, Mercedes also hinted at retirement on instagram, and then took back that sentiment. So, really, what do we know?

Mercedes has supporters in the White Sox organization, so it’s unlikely they’ll let him play in Japan without a fight or counteroffer of some sort. When Mercedes flirted with retirement, Tony La Russa was among the first to reach out and try to persuade that young slugger to reconsider.

“As you probably know, if you are paying attention, several times he said how close we are. He knows I’m a supporter of his. So I’ll reach out to him and see what’s going on. It could be he’s just feeling frustrated. I’ll try to explain to him he’s got a big league future,” La Russa said at the time.

Chicago White Sox: Yermin Mercedes hints at stint in Japan

Mercedes would be just the latest in a long line of MLB-ers in search of a second chance overseas. Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League is arguably the second-most competitive baseball league in the world, and there’s an easy pathway back to the majors should Mercedes wish to take that route.

In the end, it’s his call. He’s clearly unhappy playing the role of a minor-league hero after getting a taste of MLB action at 26 years old.