Omar Beltre (Born August 24, 1981) is a Dominican 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

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 ...

. 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.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Beltre signed with the Texas Rangers on March 1, 2000. He received a $600,000 bonus, the largest the Rangers have ever given an international player. He was assigned to the

Gulf Coast League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the l ...

Rangers, and went 5–4 with a 3.54

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

and 44

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

in his first professional season. He improved to 6–3 with a 3.38 ERA and 83 strikeouts for the Appalachian League's

Pulaski Rangers Pulaski may refer to: Places * Pulaski Heights, a section of the city of Little Rock, Arkansas * Pulaski Shoal, an underwater landform west of the Florida Keys * Pulaski, Georgia, a town * Pulaski Square, one of the "Squares of Savannah" in th ...

in 2001, leading his team in both wins and strikeouts. After sitting out the entire 2002 season with an injury, he returned to go 3–3 with a 2.39 ERA for the

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 ...

Clinton LumberKings The Clinton LumberKings are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Prospect League. They are located in Clinton, Iowa, and play their home games at NelsonCorp Field. From 1956 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's Midwest Leag ...

in 2003. Having been used primarily as a starter up to that point, Beltre only made five starts in 2003, and made eleven appearances out of the bullpen.

Human trafficking ring

After going 5–5 with a 2.45 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 46 games (all in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

) with the Stockton Ports in 2004, Beltre earned his first invitation to spring training. When he went to the U.S. embassy in January 2005 to pick up his work visa, consulate officials were waiting. According to the Rangers' information, consulate officials soon discovered an inordinate number of young minor league ballplayers had been married in a short period of time to women who had previously been denied visas, and it raised a red flag. Beltre immediately admitted guilt to his involvement in a human trafficking ring, and was assured that he would likely only receive a one-year exclusion, and that he would be able to reapply the following year. As it turned out, he was banned from entering the United States for five years, limiting him to winter ball, the

Dominican Summer League The Dominican Summer League (DSL) is a branch of affiliated Minor League Baseball which is played in the Dominican Republic. The league was founded in 1985. After the demise of the Venezuelan Summer League after the 2015 season, it is the only ...

and international tournaments. He missed all of the 2008 season and most of 2009 with another injury.

Texas Rangers

On February 12, 2010, he and

Alexi Ogando Alexi Ogando Acosta (born October 5, 1983) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians. He was an MLB All ...

, who was also involved in the human trafficking ring out of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

, were granted visas, and allowed to attend Spring training, arriving in the U.S. on the 16th. After spring training, he was assigned to the triple A

Oklahoma City RedHawks Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

of the Pacific Coast League, where he went 0–5 with a 2.39 ERA in fifteen games (five starts) before getting called up to the majors. He was optioned to the Triple A

on July 6, 2010, and never made another major league appearance. Beltré underwent surgery for

spinal stenosis Spinal stenosis is an abnormal narrowing of the spinal canal or neural foramen that results in pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots. Symptoms may include pain, numbness, or weakness in the arms or legs. Symptoms are typically gradual i ...

in February 2011. He became a free agent at the end of the season.

References

External links

Minor League Baseball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beltre, Omar 1981 births Living people Baseball players at the 2007 Pan American Games Clinton LumberKings players Dominican Republic criminals Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Gulf Coast Rangers players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Oklahoma City RedHawks players Pulaski Rangers players Texas Rangers players Toros del Este players Sportspeople from Santo Domingo Stockton Ports players Sportspeople convicted of crimes Pan American Games competitors for the Dominican Republic Arizona League Rangers players Azucareros del Este players Dominican Summer League Rangers players