Ryan Joseph Sweeney (born February 20, 1985) 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), ...

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

(MLB) for the

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

Early life

Sweeney was born in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

and originally attended Jefferson High School, but conflict between winter showcase games and regular high school basketball schedule obligations led him to transfer to and graduate from cross-town

Xavier High School A multitude of schools and universities have been named after St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Roman Catholic saint and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. This page lists notable educational institutions named after St. Xavier, arranged by country a ...

in Cedar Rapids in 2003.

Baseball career

Minor leagues

He had originally planned to play for

Tony Gwynn Anthony Keith Gwynn Sr. (May 9, 1960 – June 16, 2014), nicknamed "Mr. Padre", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played 20 seasons (1982–2001) in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres. The left-handed hit ...

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

, but signed with the

after they chose him in the 2nd round of the 2003 MLB draft. Sweeney played in the White Sox minor league organization from 2003 to 2006, including:

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

(

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from ...

) and

Great Falls Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

( Pioneer League) in 2003;

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

(

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

) in 2004;

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

( Southern League) in 2005; and

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

(

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

) in 2006.

Chicago White Sox

In 2006, he was called up to the White Sox, and played in 21 games for the major league team. At the beginning of the 2007 season, Ryan was ranked by Baseball America as prospect No. 1 in the White Sox organization. That year he played in 15 games for the White Sox and 105 for the Charlotte Knights.

Oakland Athletics

On January 3, , the White Sox traded him, along with fellow prospects pitchers

Fautino de los Santos Fautino De Los Santos (born February 15, 1986) is a Dominican former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics in 2011 and 2012 and he played for the Musashi Heat Bears in Japan's Baseball ...

and

Gio González Giovany Aramis González (born September 19, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox. A two- ...

, to Oakland for outfielder

Nick Swisher Nicholas Thompson Swisher (born November 25, 1980) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a switch hitter who threw left-handed, and played for the Oakland Athletics, Chica ...

. He played in 8 games for the AAA

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 ...

before being called up to the major league team, where he played in 116 games. Sweeney remained with the A's through 2011.

Boston Red Sox

On December 28, 2011, Sweeney and Andrew Bailey were traded to the

for

Josh Reddick William Joshua Reddick (born February 19, 1987) is an American professional baseball outfielder who plays for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League. The Boston Red Sox selected Reddick in the 17th round of the 2006 MLB draft, and he ...

, Miles Head and Raul Alcantara. Sweeney played in 63 games for the Red Sox during the 2012 season. On November 30, 2012 he was among those not offered a contract for 2013 by the Red Sox, and became a free agent. On January 26, 2013 the Red Sox signed Sweeney to a minor league contract which would pay him $1.25 million plus incentives if he made the major league team. Sweeney was signed to provide additional outfield depth when the team learned that

Ryan Kalish Ryan Michael Kalish (born March 28, 1988) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox in 2010 and 2012 and for the Chicago Cubs in 2014 and 2016. A standout high schoo ...

required surgery and would miss at least part of the 2013 season. At the end of spring training in March, 2013, Sweeney was not added to Boston's major league roster. Rather than accept assignment to the minor leagues, he opted out of his contract and became a free agent.

Chicago Cubs

Sweeney signed a minor league contract with the

on April 2, 2013. On May 6, 2013 the Cubs announced that Sweeney would be joining the major league team, with Dave Sappelt moving to the Cubs' Triple-A affiliate to make room on the Cubs roster for Sweeney. On May 8, 2013, Sweeney recorded his first hit as a Chicago Cub. Sweeney's first home run as a Cub came on May 19, 2013 at Wrigley Field. On June 15, Sweeney took over as the starting center fielder when

David DeJesus David Christopher DeJesus (; born December 20, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Ray ...

sprained his shoulder running into a wall. On June 29, Sweeney fractured his rib while running into a wall making a catch against the Mariners. Brian Bogusevic then became the starting center fielder. On September 1, he returned to the Cubs, receiving the bulk of the starts in center field to end the year. In 2013, Sweeney played 70 games with the Cubs and hit .266/.324/.448 with 6 HR and 19 RBI. On October 8, Sweeney signed a two-year, $3.5 million deal with a $2.5 million option for 2016. He would earn $1.5 million annually, and the option had a $500,000 buyout. In 77 games in 2014, Sweeney hit .251 with 3 home runs and 20 RBI's. He went on the disabled list on August 27 with a left hamstring strain. Sweeney was designated for assignment by the Cubs on April 5, 2015, and released on April 7.

Minnesota Twins

On December 17, 2015 the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

announced that Sweeney was one of several players who received a minor league contract and an offer to attend the Twins'

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

. He was released on March 25, 2016.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Ryan 1985 births Living people Chicago White Sox players Oakland Athletics players Boston Red Sox players Chicago Cubs players Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Iowa Great Falls White Sox players Bristol White Sox players Winston-Salem Warthogs players Birmingham Barons players Charlotte Knights players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Phoenix Desert Dogs players Arizona League Athletics players Sacramento River Cats players Portland Sea Dogs players Iowa Cubs players Arizona League Cubs players Kane County Cougars players