Daniel Anthony Otero (born February 19, 1985) is an American 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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. 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

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

, Oakland Athletics, and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

Amateur career

Otero went to Ransom Everglades High School in

Coconut Grove, Florida Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as The Grove, is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bound by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune Road to the west, S ...

. He began his

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

career at Duke University, where he played for the

Duke Blue Devils baseball The Duke Blue Devils baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of Duke University, based in Durham, North Carolina, United States. The team has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since the conference's founding i ...

team in the Atlantic Coast Conference from 2004 through 2006. Playing collegiate summer baseball in the summer of 2005, he helped the

Newport Gulls The Newport Gulls are a wooden-bat, collegiate summer baseball team based in Newport, Rhode Island. The Newport Gulls Baseball Club is a member of both the New England Collegiate Baseball League and the NECBL's Coastal Division. Since 2001, the Gu ...

win their third

New England Collegiate Baseball League The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is a 13-team collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 1993 and sanctioned by the NCAA and Major League Baseball. Each NECBL team plays an eight-week, 44-game schedule during June ...

championship. Otero transferred to the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

(USF), where he played his senior season with the

South Florida Bulls baseball The South Florida Bulls baseball team is the intercollegiate men's baseball program representing the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida, United States. The team competes in the American Athletic Conference of NCAA Division I. Founded in ...

team in the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

Professional career

San Francisco Giants

The

drafted Otero out of USF in the 21st round (644th overall) of the

2007 Major League Baseball Draft The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the fir ...

. They added him to the 40 man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft after the 2011 season. Otero made the club's Opening Day roster in 2012. Otero won the 2012 Harry S. Jordan Award, which is given in recognition of the player in his first big league camp whose performance and dedication in Spring Training best exemplifies the Giants' spirit. In his major league debut, on April 7, 2012, Otero recorded his first career major league strikeout against

Justin Upton Justin Irvin Upton (born August 25, 1987) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is currently a free agent. Nicknamed "J-Up", he has previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Detroit Tig ...

Oakland Athletics

On March 26, 2013, Otero was claimed off waivers by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

. The Yankees designated him for assignment the next day. Otero was then claimed off waivers by the Oakland Athletics on March 29, 2013, and immediately optioned to the Triple-A

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 ...

. Otero was designated for assignment after the club acquired Stephen Vogt from 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 April 5, 2013. He was outrighted to Sacramento on April 7. On June 14, 2013, he was brought up from Sacramento as

Hideki Okajima is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. Okajima pitched for the Yomiuri Giants, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, and the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athle ...

was optioned down. He had his first major-league win in relief of

A.J. Griffin Arthur Joseph Griffin (born January 28, 1988) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers. Early life Griffin attended Grossmont High School. He was n ...

on July 2, 2013 against the Chicago Cubs. In 33 games for the A's, he was 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in 39 innings. For the 2014 season, Otero served as a mainstay in the A's bullpen, pitching a career high 72 games. He was 8-2 with a 2.28 ERA in innings. On September 30, 2014, Otero was the losing pitcher in the 2014 American League Wild Card Game, giving up two earned runs in the bottom of the 12th inning. He struggled the following season, appearing in 41 games but having an ERA of 6.75 in innings.

Cleveland Indians

On November 3, 2015, Otero was claimed off of waivers by the Philadelphia Phillies. They designated him for assignment on December 11. He was traded to the

for cash considerations on December 18. In his first season with Cleveland, he rebounded from the previous season, having an ERA of 1.53 in 62 appearances. He had an ERA of 2.85 in 2017. The following season proved to be a difficult one for Otero as he registered an ERA of 5.22 in 61 appearances. On October 29, 2018, he was selected MLB All-Stars at

2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series The 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the twelfth edition of the MLB Japan All-Star Series, a best-of-six series between an All-Star team from Major League Baseball (MLB) and for the second time in series history, the Japanese national team, Sam ...

On October 31, 2019, the Indians announced they had declined their club option on Otero's contract for the 2020 season, making Otero a free agent.

New York Yankees

Otero signed a minor league deal with the

in February 2020. He became a free agent on November 2, 2020.

Post-baseball career

On March 22, 2021, it was announced that Otero was hired by the

to join their baseball operations department.

Personal life

Otero and his wife, Tiffany, have three daughters.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otero, Dan 1985 births Living people American sportspeople of Cuban descent Baseball players from Miami Cleveland Indians players Connecticut Defenders players Duke Blue Devils baseball players Fresno Grizzlies players Major League Baseball pitchers Nashville Sounds players Oakland Athletics players Richmond Flying Squirrels players Sacramento River Cats players Salem-Keizer Volcanoes players San Francisco Giants players San Jose Giants players South Florida Bulls baseball players