Another former member of the Brewers’ organization heads to Japan for the 2026 season

Over the course of MLB's grueling 162-game regular season, it's necessary that teams, especially those with playoff aspirations, build up enough depth to sustain the numerous injuries that are bound to pop up at some point. The Milwaukee Brewers do this better than most, with their 40-man and Triple-A rosters often overflowing with players who would likely be big league starters for other teams around the league.

Paired with Milwaukee's significant roster turnover throughout their period of sustained success -- which makes their success all that more impressive -- the Brewers have ties to many players around the league, making for plenty of "deep-cut" jersey opportunities. Go to American Family Field these days and you might see a Dallas Kuechel or Josh Donaldson Brewers jersey for which the only correct response is a nod of respect.

When extended to the entire organization, the phenomenon gets even more fun. Just last year, former NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario made a stop in Nashville for the Brewers' Triple-A affiliate. As did former Brewer Luis Urías, who spent the final month of the season with the Nashville Sounds. However, spending more time in the Brewers organization in 2025 than both Rosario and Urías was former breakout rookie Bobby Dalbec, who appeared in parts of five seasons with the Boston Red Sox and made a brief stop in Chicago with the White Sox at the beginning of the 2025 campaign.

Bobby Dalbec signs with Yomuiri Giants in Japan for 2026 season, after a summer with the Nashville Sounds

Tell any Brewers fan back in 2021 that their team would eventually sign Bobby Dalbec and they would have been ecstatic. Back in 2021, Dalbec's rookie season, the former fourth-round pick slugged 25 homers and collected 78 RBI for the Red Sox, emerging as what appeared to be Boston's first baseman of the future. Unfortunately, Dalbec couldn't replicate that success the following season, and after two years of going back-and-forth between Triple-A and MLB in 2023 and 2024, Dalbec left Boston for a new opportunity in Chicago with the lowly White Sox.

Despite giving him just seven games’ worth of opportunities at the big-league level, the White Sox designated Dalbec for assignment in early May, after which he denied his outright assignment to the minor leagues and elected free agency. The Brewers signed him to a minor league deal, and for the next three months, he manned first base, third base, and right field for the Nashville Sounds.

Dalbec put together some solid numbers in his 61 games in Nashville, slashing .266/.356/.498 with 12 homers and 15 doubles, but in early August, the Brewers released him, after which he landed with the Kansas City Royals, where he finished out the 2025 campaign.

Now, still with plenty of potential, but in need of a new opportunity, Dalbec is taking his talents overseas where he will join Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, as initially reported by Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. With the hopes of proving to MLB teams that he deserves another chance at an everyday role in the big leagues, Dalbec will not only need to continue displaying the power that he possesses, but also an ability to consistently get on base, something he has struggled with at the major league level. At just 30 years old, if Dalbec can put together a strong 2026 season for the Yomiuri Giants, don't be surprised if his name pops up as an under-the-radar free agent signing this time next year.