Daniel Adam Cortes (born March 4, 1987) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

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 dr ...

. He was drafted by 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 ...

in the seventh 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 bes ...

. He also played in the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

organization.

Professional career

Chicago White Sox

Cortes began his professional career in with the Rookie-Level

Bristol White Sox The Bristol Pirates were a Minor League Baseball team in Bristol, Virginia, United States. They were a Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League. The team played home games at DeVault Memorial Stadium. Opened in 1969, Devault Memorial Stadiu ...

of the

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 J ...

. While playing under manager Jerry Hairston, Cortes went 1–4 with a 5.17 ERA and 38

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 15 games, even started. ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

'' ranked Cortes as the 22nd best prospect in the White Sox organization. In Cortes began his season with the Class-A

Kannapolis Intimidators Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. The ...

of 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 ...

. He went 3–9 with a 4.01 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 20 games, 19 starts. He was then traded to the Kansas City Royals along with pitcher Tyler Lumsden in exchange for pitcher Mike MacDougal on July 24.

Kansas City Royals

Cortes finished the 2006 season with the Class-A

Burlington Bees The Burlington Bees are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Prospect League. They are located in Burlington, Iowa, and have played their home games at Community Field since 1947. Founded in 1889, the Bees played in Minor League Baseball' ...

of 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 reorganiza ...

. He went 1–2 with a 6.69 ERA with 30 strikeouts in seven games, all starts. In Cortes played for the Class-A Advanced

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. F ...

of the

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 un ...

. He went 8–8 with a 3.07 ERA with 120 strikeouts in 23 games, all starts. He was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for the week of August 20 to August 26. Cortes was again awarded Pitcher of the Week for the week of August 27 to September 2. He played for the Double-A

Northwest Arkansas Naturals The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springdale, Arkansas. The team is a member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The Naturals play at Arvest Ballpark, whi ...

of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

in . Cortes went 10–4 with a 3.78 ERA with 109 strikeouts in 23 games, all starts. Before the season he was ranked as the second best prospect in the Royals' organization by ''Baseball America.'' He was also named to the Texas League All-Star team. He did miss playing time while on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

. The Royals recognized Cortes as the top pitcher for the Double-A Naturals and he was selected to play 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 fille ...

at the end of the '08 season. In January, Cortes received the " Paul Splittorff Pitcher of the Year Award" from the Royals. He attended

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 roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

with the Royals in '09 as a

non-roster invitee A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

. Cortes was named a "Player to Watch" by MLB.com before the season. He went 6–6 with a 3.92 ERA with 57 strikeouts in 16 games, 15 starts with the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals. On July 10 he was traded by the Royals with Derrick Saito to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Yuniesky Betancourt.

Seattle Mariners

After the trade Cortes was assigned to the Double-A West Tenn Diamond Jaxx. Cortes went 1–5 with a 4.94 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 10 games, all starts. He was added to the Mariners

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

on November 20. On December 12, 2011, the Mariners announced via their Twitter feed that Cortes had been non-tendered along with catcher

Chris Gimenez Christopher Paul Gimenez ( ; born December 27, 1982) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs and Minnes ...

Washington Nationals

Cortes signed a minor league contract with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

on January 4, 2012. His contract was voided on February 29, after he failed his physical with the Nationals.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Cortes signed a minor league contract with the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

on March 15, 2013.

Personal life

Cortes, who had taken a summer job at a sporting goods store, was taken

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

by his new co-workers and when he attempted to leave the bowling alley he was stabbed after trying to break up a confrontation between his co-worker and the stabber. His co-worker died and Cortes was hospitalized. He questioned if he would be able to pitch again since the injury was on his throwing arm. He did however make a full recovery. On January 1, 2009, Cortes was arrested on charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct in

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington unt ...

. According to police accounts, Cortes was arrested after he allegedly urinated on a fence outside Grub's Bar & Grille. After five hours in jail, Cortes was released when he posted a $655 bond.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cortes, Dan 1987 births Living people Águilas de Mexicali players Baseball players from California Bristol White Sox players Burlington Bees players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Kannapolis Intimidators players Lake Elsinore Storm players Major League Baseball pitchers Mobile BayBears players Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Seattle Mariners players Sportspeople from Pomona, California Surprise Rafters players Tacoma Rainiers players Tiburones de La Guaira players Tucson Padres players West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx players Wilmington Blue Rocks players York Revolution players