Michael David Taylor (born December 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 ...

. 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

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 ...

and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

from 2011 through 2014.

Early life

Taylor was born in

Cheverly, Maryland Cheverly is a town in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located very close to Washington, D.C., though not bordering it directly. The town was founded in 1918 and incorporated in 1931. Per the 2020 census, the population was 6,17 ...

, and graduated from

Apopka High School Apopka High School is in Apopka in northwest Orange County, Florida, United States. The school has been named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. The school serves grades 9 through 12, and has a preschool with a main teacher and student teachers. ...

Apopka, Florida Apopka is a city in Orange County, Florida. The city's population was 55,000 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area. ''Apopka'' comes from Seminole word ''Ahapopka'' for "Potato eating ...

. He played

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 pl ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. In 2006, 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 ...

in 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 ...

for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.

Baseball career

Philadelphia Phillies

Taylor was drafted by the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

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) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

in the fifth round 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 f ...

out of Stanford University. At the end of the 2009 season, he was one of two players given the

Paul Owens Award This is a list of award winners and league leaders for the Philadelphia Phillies professional baseball team. Award winners Most Valuable Player (NL) :Note: This award was known as the Kenesaw Mountain Landis Memorial Baseball Award 1944-2019. : ...

, for best pitcher and best position player (which went to Taylor) in the Phillies' farm system. He was also selected as the Eastern League Rookie of the Year while playing for the

Reading Phillies Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Oakland Athletics

On December 16, 2009, Taylor was traded to 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 ...

with

Kyle Drabek Kyle Jordan Drabek (born December 8, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox, and Arizona Diamondbacks. Drabek is the son of former major-l ...

and

Travis D'Arnaud Travis Emmanuel d'Arnaud (born February 10, 1989), nicknamed Lil D, is an American professional baseball catcher for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the supplemental first round o ...

in exchange for

Roy Halladay Harry Leroy "Roy" Halladay III (May 14, 1977 – November 7, 2017) was an American professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies between 1998 and 2013. His nicknam ...

. The Blue Jays immediately traded him to the

for Brett Wallace. He spent the entire 2010 season at Triple-A

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

and played 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 ...

. On September 2, 2011, Taylor made his major league debut with the Oakland Athletics, batting ninth and playing right field. In total, his brief 2011 stint with the A's included 11 games, 6 hits, 1 HR, 1 RBI and a .200 batting average. Taylor was designated for assignment by the Athletics on March 29, 2014.

Chicago White Sox

On June 14, the A's traded Taylor to the

in exchange for right handed pitcher Jake Sanchez. On October 24, 2014 Taylor was outrighted to Triple A and later that same day he elected free agency. On January 22, 2015, Taylor resigned on a minor league deal. On March 10, 2015, Taylor announced his retirement from baseball.

References

External links

Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Michael 1985 births Living people Oakland Athletics players Chicago White Sox players Stanford Cardinal baseball players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Williamsport Crosscutters players Lakewood BlueClaws players Clearwater Threshers players Reading Phillies players Sacramento River Cats players Charlotte Knights players Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Maryland People from Cheverly, Maryland Mat-Su Miners players African-American baseball players