Alexi Casilla Lora (born July 20, 1984) is a Dominican former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

second baseman. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Minnesota Twins and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

Professional career

Minnesota Twins

Casilla was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

Anaheim Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

in . On December 9, 2005, the Angels traded Casilla to the Minnesota Twins for pitcher J. C. Romero. Casilla made his major league debut with the Twins in September of , playing in nine games. In , after a brief call-up with the Twins, Casilla became the everyday second baseman after Luis Castillo was traded to the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. Casilla struggled, producing a .222

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with no

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s in 189 at-bats. In , Casilla did not make the Twins Opening Day roster and instead started for the Twins AAA affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings. After an injury to infielder Nick Punto, Casilla was called up in May. On May 19, 2008, Casilla hit a three-run homer, his first career MLB home run against Texas Rangers. It was also his first hit of the 2008 season. Casilla spent the rest of the 2008 season as the Twins' starting second baseman and second hitter in the lineup. At the end of the 2008 season, he was batting .281 with 7 home runs and 50 RBIs. Casilla struggled to begin the season. After hitting only .167 in his first 84 at-bats, he was optioned to AAA Rochester. He was recalled and had a .202 AVG, .280 OBP, and a .259 SLG. He had the most at-bats without a home run in the AL. In 2009, during the

2009 AL Central tie-breaker game The 2009 American League Central tie-breaker game was a one-game extension to Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2009 regular season, played between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins to determine the champion of the American League's (AL) C ...

featuring the Twins against the Detroit Tigers, Casilla became the unlikely hero, hitting a game-winning walk-off single to score

Carlos Gómez Carlos Argelis Gómez Peña, nicknamed Go-Go, (born December 4, 1985) is a Dominican former professional baseball outfielder. He played for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay R ...

from second base in the bottom of the 12th inning. Prior to the season, Casilla changed his number from 25 to 12, giving number 25 to

Jim Thome James Howard Thome (; born August 27, 1970) is an American former professional baseball corner infielder and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 22 seasons (1991–2012). He played for six different teams during the ...

, who had worn the number for almost his entire 21-year career. For most of the season, Casilla switched between second base and shortstop, sometimes filling in for

Tsuyoshi Nishioka is a Japanese former professional baseball infielder. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Chiba Lotte Marines and Hanshin Tigers, as well as Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins. Nishioka played in the 2006 ...

, who was injured for the first two months of the season. In 97 games, Casilla hit .260 with 2 home runs and 21 RBI's. Casilla made the Twins' Opening Day roster in 2012 and got off to a relatively slow start in his first 16 games. For the season, he played in a career high 106 games, hitting .241 with 30 RBI's.

Baltimore Orioles

On November 2, 2012 he was picked up off waivers by the

. On November 30, Casilla signed a one-year, $1.7 million deal with a club option for 2014 to avoid arbitration with Baltimore. Casilla made the Opening Day roster with the Orioles in 2013. After Brian Roberts went down with an injury 3 games into the season, Casilla entered a platoon with

Ryan Flaherty Ryan Edward Flaherty (born July 27, 1986) is an American professional baseball coach and former infielder. He is an advance scout and development coach for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Baltimore O ...

at second base. Through June, Casilla was hitting .222 with 8 RBI and 10 R. When Roberts returned on June 30, Casilla's playing time drastically diminished, leading to only 4 appearances in all of July, and 20 appearances after June despite being healthy. In 62 games (31 starts) in 2013, Casilla hit .214 with 1 HR, 10 RBI and 15 R. He did not make an error in 170 chances in the field, with 169 of those being at second base. On November 4, Casilla had his $3 million club option declined, and was instead paid the $200,000

buyout In finance, a buyout is an investment transaction by which the ownership equity of a company, or a majority share of the stock of the company is acquired. The acquiror thereby "buys out" the present equity holders of the target company. A buyout ...

, becoming a free agent. In January 2014 he signed with Orioles again and by April 17 of the same year was replaced by

Jonathan Schoop Jonathan Rufino Jezus Schoop ( ; born October 16, 1991) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball second baseman for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, and Minnesot ...

due to his strained

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupe ...

Tampa Bay Rays

Casilla signed a minor league deal with the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

on February 2, 2015. He was released on March 31. The Rays re-signed him to a minor league contract on April 9.

Detroit Tigers

On June 29, 2015, the

traded Casilla to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

. He elected free agency on November 6.

Toronto Blue Jays

On March 9, 2016, Casilla signed a minor league contract with the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. He became a free agent on November 7, 2016.

York Revolution

On May 24, 2017, Casilla signed with the

York Revolution The York Revolution is an American professional minor-league baseball team based in York, Pennsylvania. It is a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent "partner league" of Major League Baseba ...

of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. On November 1, 2017, he became a free agent. On February 16, 2018, Casilla re-signed with the

. He re-signed again for the 2019 season, and became a free agent after the season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casilla, Alexi 1984 births Living people Aberdeen IronBirds players Arizona League Angels players Arkansas Travelers players Baltimore Orioles players Beloit Snappers players Cedar Rapids Kernels players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Durham Bulls players Estrellas Orientales players Fort Myers Miracle players Gigantes del Cibao players Gulf Coast Twins players Minnesota Twins players Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball third basemen New Britain Rock Cats players Norfolk Tides players Provo Angels players Rochester Red Wings players Salt Lake Stingers players Tigres del Licey players Toledo Mud Hens players Toros del Este players York Revolution players