Matthew Kyle Watson (born September 5, 1978) is an American 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), ...

(MLB)

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

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

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

between 2003 and 2010.

Amateur career

A native of

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

, Watson attended

J. P. McCaskey High School J. P. McCaskey High School is a public high school located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. Located on the east side of Lancaster, it is named after John Piersol McCaskey, a local educator. The McCaskey campus consists of two buildings ...

and

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 studen ...

. In 1998 he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fi ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. He was drafted by the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

in the 16th round of the

1999 Major League Baseball draft The 1999 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1999. A total of 1474 players were drafted over the course of 50 rounds. First round selections ...

Professional career

In 2002, Watson was traded with Phil Seibel and

Scott Strickland Scott Michael Strickland (born April 26, 1976) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) relief pitcher who played for several teams between 1999 and 2010. Amateur career A native of Houston, Texas, Strickland attended the University of ...

to the New York Mets for

Bruce Chen Bruce Kastulo Chen (born June 19, 1977), is a Panamanian former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Montreal Expos, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astr ...

, Luis Figueroa,

Dicky Gonzalez Dicky Angel Gonzalez Vallenilla (born December 21, 1978) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets and Tampa Bay Rays and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Tokyo Yakult Swallo ...

and 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 ...

, who would be Saúl Rivera. Watson made his major league debut with the Mets in 2003. Following the 2003 season, Watson was selected off waivers by the

. He spent 2004 in the minors, and played for the Athletics in 2005. The

Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. History The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions, an inaugural ...

purchased Watson from the A's after the 2005 season. Watson spent the next two seasons in Japan. In , he played for the Triple-A

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

in 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 ...

organization. In 76 games, he batted .290. He signed with the

Doosan Bears The Doosan Bears ( ko, 두산 베어스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul. Founded in 1982, they are a member of the KBO League. The Bears have won six Korean Series titles (1982, 1995, 2001, 2015, 2016, and 2019) and ...

in South Korea in January , but was released in May 2009. He joined his hometown

Lancaster Barnstormers The Lancaster Barnstormers (colloquially known as the Stormers) are an American professional baseball team based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They are a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league ...

in July 2009 after a brief stint in the

system. He rejoined the Athletics organization in 2010, and was again promoted to the major leagues. On July 21, 2010, he hit his first career home run off of

Clay Buchholz Clay Daniel Buchholz (born August 14, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Toronto Blue Jays. Buchholz made h ...

of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. He last played with the

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

in 2011.

References

External links

Career statistics and player information
from

Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ko, 한국야구위원회) is the governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League ( ko, KBO 리그) and KBO ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Matt 1978 births Living people Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Pennsylvania New York Mets players Oakland Athletics players American expatriate baseball players in Japan KBO League outfielders American expatriate baseball players in South Korea Vermont Expos players Jupiter Hammerheads players Binghamton Mets players Harrisburg Senators players St. Lucie Mets players Norfolk Tides players Brooklyn Cyclones players Sacramento River Cats players Chiba Lotte Marines players Syracuse Chiefs players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Doosan Bears players Lancaster Barnstormers players Wareham Gatemen players