John Patrick Raynor (born January 4, 1984 in

Benson, North Carolina Benson is a town in Johnston County, North Carolina, United States, near the intersection of Interstates 95 and 40. Benson celebrates Mule Days on the fourth Saturday of September, a festival that attracts over 60,000 people each year. In 2010, ...

) is a former

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), ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

who played for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, although he spent most of his career in the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

organization. He spent a season as a coach and student at his alma mater,

UNC-Wilmington The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW or UNC Wilmington) is a public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina System and enrolls 17,499 undergraduate and graduate students eac ...

. He is not a baseball instructor.

High School and College

Raynor graduated from

South Johnston High School South Johnston High School (also referred to as "South") is a high school for grades 9–12 located in Four Oaks, North Carolina, near Benson. The school was built in 1969 in order to integrate the area's "all-white" and "all-black" schools. Th ...

in 2002. He attended the

University of North Carolina at Wilmington The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW or UNC Wilmington) is a public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina System and enrolls 17,499 undergraduate and graduate students eac ...

. in 2005, for UNCW, he hit .397 with 23 stolen bases. Raynor was drafted by the

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 ...

in the 12th round of the

2005 Major League Baseball draft The 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the best ...

, but did not sign. In 2006, his senior season, he hit .370 with 42 stolen bases. In the 2006 Major League Baseball draft, Raynor was selected in the 9th round by the

and signed by scout Joel Matthews.

Professional Baseball Career

Florida Marlins

In the 2006 Major League Baseball draft, Raynor was selected in the 9th round by the

and signed by scout Joel Matthews. In 2006, Raynor played 54 games for the Marlins Class A Short-Season affiliate, the

Jamestown Jammers The Jamestown Jammers were a minor league baseball team based in Jamestown, New York from 1994 until 2014. The team was the Short-Season A classification affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates and played in the New York–Penn League. The team playe ...

in the

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

. He hit .286, 4, 21 with 21 SBs and was selected as a NY-Penn league all-star. He spent the entire 2007 campaign with the Marlins Class A affiliate, the

Greensboro Grasshoppers The Greensboro Grasshoppers are a Minor League Baseball team based in Greensboro, North Carolina. They are members of the South Atlantic League and are the High-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They play their home games at First National ...

in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

. Raynor hit .333, 13, 57 with 54 SBs and 110 Runs scored. He was named a South Atlantic League All-Star, MVP of the South Atlantic League, and was also selected as the Florida Marlins organizational Player of the Year for 2007. Raynor spent 2008 with the Double-A

Carolina Mudcats The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, and play their home games a ...

of the Southern League. There, he hit .312, 13, 51 with 48 SBs, and 104 Runs scored. He was named a Southern League All-Star and started in left field for the North Division in the all-star game. That fall, Raynor was selected by the Marlins to participate in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

for the

Mesa Solar Sox The Mesa Solar Sox are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Mesa, Arizona, at Sloan Park, which is also the spring training facility of the Chicago Cubs. The team was established ...

. He played in 8 games for Mesa before being hit in the left hand by a pitch that cut his AFL season short. During his short time in Mesa, he hit at a .364, 1, 10 clip with 4 SBs, including hitting for the cycle on October 10 versus the Surprise Rafters. On December 10, 2009, the

selected Raynor with the second pick in the 2009 Rule 5 draft. He was offered back to the Marlins on May 4, 2010.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On December 10, 2009, the

selected Raynor with the second pick in the 2009 Rule 5 draft. He made the Pirates 2010 opening day roster. Raynor walked in his major league debut on April 8, 2010, and got his first big league hit two at-bats later against San Francisco on April 12. Raynor appeared in 11 games and had two hits, a walk and three strikeouts in 10 at-bats for the Pirates. He was designated for assignment on April 27 to make room for

Jeff Karstens Jeffrey Wayne Karstens (born September 24, 1982) is a former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). Karstens pitched for the New York Yankees in 2006 and 2007 and the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2008 to 2012. High schoo ...

. The Pirates had hoped to make a deal to keep Raynor in the organization, but offered him back to the Marlins on May 4.

Retirement

After failing to make the opening day roster, the Marlins released Raynor on March 23, 2011. He decided to retire at the age of 27. He is now a coach/student at UNC-Wilmington.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raynor, John 1984 births Living people UNC Wilmington Seahawks baseball coaches UNC Wilmington Seahawks baseball players Pittsburgh Pirates players Major League Baseball outfielders Jamestown Jammers players Greensboro Grasshoppers players Carolina Mudcats players New Orleans Zephyrs players Baseball players from North Carolina People from Benson, North Carolina