Veteran Jonny Gomes, who won World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox in 2013 and the Kansas City Royals last season, but found few takers on the free-agent market this winter, is jumping to Japan this year to join the Rakuten Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball League. After the New York Yankees released pitcher Esmil Rogers last year, he headed to South Korea, where he signed with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korean Baseball Organization. Rogers, who had also played for the Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays, pitched well enough there to earn a one-year, $1.9 million contract with Hanwha this season -- the largest deal the league had ever doled out to a foreign player in its 33-year history.

Meanwhile, Matt Murton is in camp with the Chicago Cubs this spring, trying to return to the major leagues after a successful six-year run in Japan. Murton, Gomes and Rogers aren't the first MLB players to attempt to revive their careers outside the United States. A number of players -- even one Hall of Famer -- have used a solid season overseas as a springboard to renewed MLB success, while others stayed put and forged a second baseball act as expatriates.

Played for: EDA Rhinos Chinese Professional Baseball League in 2013.

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Unable to find a contract stateside after two suspensions for PED use, the 12-time All-Star and 2004 World Series MVP signed a short-term contract in 2013 to play in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League. Ramirez, who went to Taiwan hoping to earn another shot in the major leagues, hit .352 with eight memorable home runs and 43 RBIs in 49 games with the EDA Rhinos -- before returning to the U.S. because he said he missed his family.

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Played for: Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan's Pacific League (1995 and 1998), the Angelopolis (Mexico City) Tigers in the Mexican League (1999 and 2001), the Samsung Lions in South Korea (2000).

Franco made his major league debut in April 1982 and last appeared in the majors in 2007, when he was 49 years old. In the 25 years in between, the infielder -- known for his quick hands and unusual stance -- played for eight different teams, made three All-Star Games and even led the American League with a .341 average in 1991. He also played in Japan, Korea and the Mexican League. Franco, now 57, still hasn't hung up his spikes. He's heading into his second season as the player-manager of the Ishikawa Million Stars, who play in a Japanese independent league.

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Played for: Leones del Escogido of the Dominican League (2015-16), Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican Baseball League (2016), the Hanshin Tigers of Japan's NPB (2007-08) and the Guerreros de Oaxaca of the Mexican League (2010).

The well-traveled outfielder was named the AL Player of the Week with the Minnesota Twins in 2005. When he was outrighted to the minor league in 2007, he decided instead to sign with Hanshin and spent the following season playing in Japan. After stints in Mexico and a couple of tours of duty in the low minors, Ford may have found a home in the Caribbean. The 30-year-old was the MVP of the 2016 Dominican Winter League championship series. He led Leones del Escogido to the title -- and on to the Caribbean Series -- by hitting .368 with a home run, four RBIs, five runs and six walks.

Warren Cromartie

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Played for: Japan's Yomiuri Giants (1984-1990)

One of the few players to play in America, Canada and Japan, Cromartie left the Montreal Expos in 1983 to play for the Yomiuri Giants. Along the way, "Cro" became a fan favorite on both continents, but he was an especially big hit in Japan, where he punctuated homers with a "Bonzai!" cheer. In 1989, Cromartie hit .378, was named Central League MPV and led the Giants to the Japan Series championship. The Royals invited him to spring training in 1991; he earned a one-year deal at the league minimum as a left-handed bat off the bench. In limited duty, Cromartie batted .313 with one home run and 20 RBIs for Kansas City before retiring with 20 games left in the season.

Alex Cabrera

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Played for: Japan's Seibu Lions (2001-2012)

After toiling in the minors for nine seasons, Cabrera finally got his shot in the show with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2000. He homered in his first at-bat and went on to hit four more home runs in only 84 at-bats with the D-backs. By 2000, however, the outfielder/first baseman found himself in Japan with the Seibu Lions. Cabrera made an immediate impact, hitting 49 home runs his first season before tying Tuffy Rhodes and the legendary Sadaharu Oh with 55 in 2002. Cabrera hit 50 more home runs the next season and retired in 2012 with 357 career homers in only 12 Nippon Professional Baseball seasons.

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Played for: Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (2011-15).

The Curacao-born Balentien played briefly for the Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners before going on to glory in Japan. As an outfielder for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, he led the Central League in homers for three consecutive seasons, including 2013, when he hit 60 to shatter Sadaharu Oh's longstanding record of 55. After injuries limited him in 2014 and 2015, Balentien is starting his sixth season in NPB.

Cecil Fielder

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Played for: the Japan League's Hanshin Tigers (1989).

Although Fielder played just one year in Japan, he made the most of it, hitting 38 home runs for Hanshin and earning the nickname "Wild Bear" from appreciative fans for his powerful, hulking presence. Fielder, who had struggled to get playing time during three seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, caught the Detroit Tigers' attention with his power surge. The Tigers welcomed him back to the States the next year with a $1.25 million contract -- worth 10 times what the Blue Jays had paid him in 1988. He repaid Detroit's faith but leading the AL in home runs the next two seasons, with 51 and 44 jacks.

Tuffy Rhodes

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Played for: Japan League's Kintetsu Buffaloes, Yomiuri Giants, Orix Buffaloes (1996-2009)

An outfielder who spent time with the Houston Astros, Cubs and Red Sox from 1990-95, Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes hit only 13 home runs in the majors. But after he moved to Japan in 1996 and became one of, if not the, most successful former major leaguers to play in the country. During his 11-year career in the Japanese leagues, he batted .286, compared with just .224 in the U.S. He is tied for 10th overall in career NPB home runs, with 474. And in 2001, Rhodes tied Sadahara Oh's single-season record of 55 home runs, which was tied by Cabrera the following season. Rhodes also earned the distinction of free agency, which meant he was treated as a "Japanese Player," an honor only awarded to three other non-Japanese players in the league's history.

Goose Gossage

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Played for: Fukuoka Daiei Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (1990)

Gossage is the lone Hall of Famer to make a career-extending sojourn to Japan. After posting a 2.97 ERA out of the bullpen for the Yankees and Giants at the age of 37 in 1989, Gossage joined the Pacific League's Fukuoka Daiei in 1990. He went 2-3 with eight saves and a 4.40 ERA in 23 games with the Hawks, then returned to the U.S. to pitch four more seasons for the Texas Rangers, Oakland A's (1992-93) and Seattle Mariners (1994). He was inducted into the Hall in 2008.