Joaquín Arias (born September 21, 1984) is a Dominican former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

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. ...

. 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 Texas Rangers,

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 ...

, and

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 Yor ...

Baseball career

New York Yankees

Arias signed with the

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

as an international free agent in 2001. He batted .266 for the

Battle Creek Yankees The Michigan Battle Cats of the Midwest League became the Battle Creek Yankees for the 2003 season. In 2005, their affiliation with the New York Yankees ended. They became an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays known as the Southwest Michigan De ...

of the Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

in 2003.

Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers acquired Arias on March 23, 2004, completing a trade made 36 days earlier on February 16 that sent

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the ...

to the

for

Alfonso Soriano Alfonso Guilleard Soriano (born January 7, 1976) is a Dominican former professional baseball left fielder and second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals, and Chicago Cu ...

. Among five Yankees prospects offered to the Rangers, Arias was selected over

Robinson Canó Robinson José Canó Mercedes (; born October 22, 1982) is a Dominican-American professional baseball second baseman who is currently a free agent. He previously played in MLB for the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, San Dieg ...

because he was a more polished defender and two years younger. Arias made his Major League debut with the Rangers on September 13, 2006, drawing a

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ov ...

against 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 ...

New York Mets

Arias was designated for assignment on August 24, 2010 and traded to the

on August 31 for

Jeff Francoeur Jeffrey Braden Francoeur (; born January 8, 1984), nicknamed "Frenchy", is an American former professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals ...

Kansas City Royals

On November 4, 2010, Arias was claimed off waivers by the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

, but the Royals designated Arias for assignment on December 19 to make room on the 40-man roster for the prospects acquired in the

Zack Greinke Donald Zackary Greinke ( ; born October 21, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He made his MLB debut with the Kansas City Royals in 2004 and has also played in MLB for the Milwaukee Brewers, Los An ...

trade.

San Francisco Giants

The

signed Arias to a minor league contract on December 15, 2011. After spending the 2012 Spring training with the Giants, he was assigned to

Fresno Grizzlies The Fresno Grizzlies are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They are located in Fresno, California, and play their home games at Chukchansi Park, which was opened in 2002 in do ...

, Giants' Triple-A affiliate, on April 5. He played 18 games for the Grizzlies, hitting .400 with 2 home runs and 17 runs batted in (RBIs). The Giants called up Arias on April 25.

2012

Arias hit his first major-league home run in his 331st career major-league at-bat on May 22, 2012. The two-run homer off

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

starting pitcher

Shaun Marcum Shaun Michal Marcum (born December 14, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, and Cleveland Indians. In 2015, he became the ...

gave San Francisco a 4–0 lead in the 4th inning of a game the Giants would go on to win by a score of 6–4. On June 13, 2012, playing third base, Arias fielded a tricky grounder—stumbling backwards as he gloved the ball—and threw to first base for the final out of

Matt Cain's perfect game On Wednesday, June 13, 2012, Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants pitched the 22nd perfect game in Major League Baseball (MLB) history and the first in Giants' franchise history. Pitching against the Houston Astros at AT&T Park in San Francisco ...

. On August 22, 2012, he accumulated a single-game career high of five RBIs. In total, Arias appeared in 112 games of the 2012 regular season, batting .270 with 5 home runs and 34 RBIs. He was also

hit by pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided ...

es a team-high 5 times. The Giants finished the 2012 season as World Series Champions. During the postseason Arias appeared in 12 games, all of them as a mid- to late-inning replacement. On October 10, during the Division Series against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, Arias entered the game in the fourth inning and had two hits in three times at bat. Both hits were doubles, after both of which Arias eventually scored runs in a game the Giants won 8–3. Overall for the postseason, Arias went 3-for-8 (.375) with three runs scored.

2013

On June 24, 2013, Arias left a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second inning with a left hamstring injury after scoring from

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

on a double by Andrés Torres. The injury only sidelined Arias for a little over a week and he took the field for the Giants against the Cincinnati Reds on July 3. However, his return proved to be short-lived when he required an emergency

appendectomy An appendectomy, also termed appendicectomy, is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedure to treat complicated acu ...

late on the night of July 7. The following day the Giants placed him on the

15-day 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 ...

. He was re-activated and returned to the team on July 26. Arias started 47 games, appeared in 102 games, batting .271 with 19 RBIs.

2014

On January 23, 2014, Arias and the Giants agreed on a two-year, $2.6-million contract. Arias appeared in 107 games, batting .254 with 15 RBIs. In the 2014 postseason, Arias appeared in 8 games, batting 2-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored, as the Giants won the

2014 World Series The 2014 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2014 season. The 110th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion San Francisco Giants and the Ameri ...

over the

2015

On April 28, 2015, Arias hit 3-for-3 off Clayton Kershaw, becoming the first Giant get three hits off Kershaw in one game. Arias appeared in 40 games, batting .207, before being designated for assignment on July 27. Árias cleared waivers and was assigned to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On December 13, 2015, Arias signed a minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was released on March 31, 2016.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arias, Joaquin 1984 births Living people Águilas Cibaeñas players Arizona League Rangers players Battle Creek Yankees players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Estrellas Orientales players Fresno Grizzlies players Frisco RoughRiders players Gulf Coast Yankees players Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball shortstops New York Mets players Oklahoma City RedHawks players Oklahoma RedHawks players Omaha Storm Chasers players Sacramento River Cats players San Francisco Giants players Sportspeople from Santo Domingo Stockton Ports players Texas Rangers players