Padres Take Low-Risk Swing on Power Bat With International Experience

The Padres have made a sneaky addition to their group of minor league contracts, signing 27-year-old first baseman and outfielder Leandro Cedeño.

Cedeño is looking to make an MLB roster for the first time in his career after extensive time in the minor leagues and overseas. If he does not secure a roster spot during spring training, he will have the chance to compete at Triple-A El Paso and earn his way to the big leagues.

It’s been a roller-coaster career for Cedeño, with the Padres’ interest stemming from his recent dominant performances in the Japanese Eastern League and the Venezuelan Winter League. In 158 plate appearances for Seibu’s Eastern League affiliate, he produced a .359/.411/.586 slash line with eight home runs. He followed that with 84 plate appearances in Venezuela, where he hit .297/.357/.595.

Despite those performances, the road to the majors will not be easy. The Japanese Eastern League sits one level below Nippon Professional Baseball’s (Japan) top tier, meaning Cedeño’s success last season came in the equivalent of Japan’s minor leagues. Making the jump from that level directly to MLB is complicated to say the least.

The encouraging sign is that Cedeño has shown throughout his career that he can compete at a high level. His demotion to the Eastern League came after a slow start to the 2025 season, but prior to that he put together two productive campaigns for Orix in the Pacific League, Japan’s top level. Across those two seasons, he logged roughly 300 plate appearances each year, hit 30 home runs total and posted an OPS north of .790 both seasons.

Before heading overseas, Cedeño also compiled an extensive minor league résumé in the United States, reaching as high as Triple-A Reno in 2022.

That age-23 season began at Double-A Amarillo, where he dominated, hitting 30 home runs with a .937 OPS. He was then promoted to Reno, where he posted a .764 OPS in 55 at-bats. The campaign was highlighted by a 527 foot home run that remains the longest ball tracked in the Statcast era for MILB or MLB.

Rather than continue pushing for a major league call-up, Cedeño opted to move to Japan, where he spent the next three seasons.

In San Diego, he will attempt to carve out a role on a roster that could use another right-handed bat. The addition of Miguel Andújar has stabilized the DH spot, but the bench remains thin. Left-handers Gavin Sheets and Jake Cronenworth both struggle in same-handed matchups, and if Cedeño can produce against left-handed pitching, he could bring a valuable skill set to the lineup.

That said, the jump in competition from overseas leagues to MLB spring training will be steep, and Cedeño will need a strong performance to generate momentum.

Keep an eye on Cedeño this spring. The former talented prospect will be playing as hard as anyone, as this could represent his final opportunity to reach the major leagues.