Source: Parra returning to Nats on minor league deal

Though a bunch of members of their World Series roster have now departed, the Nationals are bringing back one beloved player from that championship group few could've envisioned returning: Gerardo Parra.

Yes, the Nats have signed Parra to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training, a source familiar with the deal confirmed. The popular outfielder will report to big league camp in West Palm Beach, Fla., and have a chance to make the opening day roster, which would earn him $1 million.

The news, which was first reported by The Washington Post, seemingly comes out of left field. After serving as an inspirational bench player for the 2019 champs in D.C., Parra took his talents to Japan and spent last season playing for the Yomiuri Giants in Tokyo.

In 47 games in the Japanese major leagues, he hit .267 with four homers, 13 RBIs, a .305 on-base percentage and .689 OPS. He also played eight games in the Japanese minor leagues, where he went 7-for-23 with a double.

Parra now returns to the Western Hemisphere, where he'll try to reconnect with a Nationals organization that adored him the last time he played here.

A mid-May 2019 acquisition while the team looked dead in the water, he became an instant sensation when he launched a go-ahead grand slam at Dodger Stadium in his first start for his new team. One month later, while mired in a slump, he walked up to the plate to "Baby Shark" for the first time, got a hit and decided to keep the preschool favorite as his trademark tune the rest of the season.

That, of course, resulted in "Baby Shark" mania at Nationals Park, with fans chomping along to the song every time he came up to bat, dressing up in shark costumes, and buying up T-shirts, stuffed animals and anything else the team could think of to sell. The Nats even included a baby shark image on the inside of their World Series rings, the final proof of Parra's importance to that championship club.

There's no guarantee Parra, who turns 34 in May, will make the roster this time around. The Nationals bench, for now, appears to consist of newly signed backup catcher Alex Avila, returning stalwart first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, fourth outfielder Andrew Stevenson and utility man Josh Harrison.

There's room for at least one more player on the bench, but if Parra makes it, he'd join Stevenson as a left-handed backup outfielder. That would also leave the club without a true backup shortstop, though second baseman Starlin Castro or third baseman Carter Kieboom (or top prospect Luis García, if he makes the team) could fill in if something happened to Trea Turner.