Danys Báez González (; ; born September 10, 1977) is a

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 ...

. Báez 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

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 F ...

Tampa Bay Devil 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 venu ...

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

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) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

, and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

Professional career

Cleveland Indians

Báez was signed by the

in 1999. In his second season, he played for both the Indians and the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

. In his debut, he went a scoreless inning against the

. Over the rest of the year, he went 5–3 with a 2.91

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

. In 2002, Báez was moved into the starting rotation of the Indians. He won his first

start Start can refer to multiple topics: *Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports *Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race Acronyms *St ...

on April 5 of that year facing the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. In 26 starts, he went 9–10 with a 4.44 ERA. He was given the role of closer in August, where he finished off the season. Báez pitched for the Indians as a reliever in 2003. He was both a

setup man In baseball, a setup man (or set-up man, also sometimes referred to as a setup pitcher or setup reliever) is a relief pitcher who regularly pitches before the closer. They commonly pitch the eighth inning, with the closer pitching the ninth. As ...

and a closer that season. He had 25 saves and 10 blown saves, which was tied for the most in the Major Leagues.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Báez 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 ...

with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and was their full-time closer in 2004. He was 30 for 33 in save chances, which was a career high and seventh best in the Major Leagues. He was traded to the

January 14, 2006 along with

Lance Carter Lance David Carter (born December 18, 1974) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) relief pitcher and current minor league pitching coach. He pitched in MLB with the Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Los Angeles Dodgers. He batte ...

for Edwin Jackson and Chuck Tiffany. The

Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

intended Báez to serve as a closer until the injured

Éric Gagné Éric Serge Gagné (; born January 7, 1976) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher who played 10 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the Los Angeles Dodgers. After signing with the Dodgers as a free agent in 1995 ...

was healthy, but he was removed from the role in May after blowing four saves in four chances.

Atlanta Braves

Báez was traded to the Braves on July 28, 2006, along with

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

Willy Aybar in exchange for

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

Wilson Betemit Wilson Betemit (pronounced BAY-ta-mee) (born November 2, 1981) is a Dominican former professional baseball infielder. He is 6'2" and weighs 220 pounds. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, New ...

. While in Atlanta, he was the set-up man for the Braves' newly acquired closer

Bob Wickman Robert Joe Wickman (born February 6, 1969) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Wickman played for the New York Yankees (–), Milwaukee Brewers (1996–), Cleveland Indians (2000–), Atlanta Braves (2006–), and Arizona Diamondback ...

Baltimore Orioles

Báez signed a three-year deal with the Orioles on November 26, 2006. He served as the set-up man for Orioles'

closing pitcher In baseball, a closing pitcher, more frequently referred to as a closer (abbreviated CL), is a relief pitcher who specializes in getting the final outs in a close game when his team is leading. The role is often assigned to a team's best relieve ...

Chris Ray Christopher Thomas Ray (born January 12, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants, and Seattle Mariners. Early life and c ...

, but became the closer after Ray suffered a season-ending injury in late July. On March 29, 2008, Baez was placed on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

after undergoing

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

and missed the entire 2008 season. Báez returned from elbow surgery the following year with a good start to the season. On May 22, 2009, Báez got his first major league hit off the Nationals

Kip Wells Robert "Kip" Wells (born April 21, 1977) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. In his Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox ...

Philadelphia Phillies

On December 31, 2009, Baez agreed in principle to a contract with the

, which was officially announced on Tuesday, January 5, 2010. In 2010, Baez made 51 appearances for the Phillies, recording a 5.48 ERA. Baez made 29 appearances for Philadelphia in 2011, recording a 6.25 ERA before being designated for assignment on July 22. On August 1, he was released.

Retirement

Baez announced his retirement from baseball on February 27, 2012.

Personal life

Báez defected from the Cuban national team at the

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. His parents followed him to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

five years later.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baez, Danys 1977 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Cuba Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States American League All-Stars Cleveland Indians players Tampa Bay Devil Rays players Los Angeles Dodgers players Atlanta Braves players Baltimore Orioles players Philadelphia Phillies players Kinston Indians players Akron Aeros players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Bowie Baysox players Defecting Cuban baseball players Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Baseball players at the 1999 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in baseball Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games People from Pinar del Río