Darwin James Kunane Barney (born November 8, 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 ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

and current coach. 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

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 ...

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, and

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 ...

. As a member of the Cubs in 2012, he won both the

Rawlings Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

and the

Fielding Bible Award A Fielding Bible Award recognizes the best defensive player for each fielding position in Major League Baseball (MLB) based on statistical analysis. John Dewan and Baseball Info Solutions conduct the annual selection process, which commenced in 2 ...

in recognition of his defensive skills at second base.

High school

Barney graduated from Southridge High School in

Beaverton, Oregon Beaverton is a city in Washington County, in the U.S. state of Oregon with a small portion bordering Portland in the Tualatin Valley. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. Its population was 97,494 at the ...

, where he helped lead the Skyhawks baseball team to its first baseball state championship in 2002.

College

Barney attended

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

and played for the Beavers for its back-to-back

NCAA Division I Baseball Championship The NCAA Division I Baseball Championship is held each year from May through June and features 64 college baseball teams in the United States, culminating in the eight-team Men's College World Series at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Nebr ...

s in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, and was named to the all-tournament team in 2007. He was the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

Freshman of the Year in 2005, and earned Freshman

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n honors. In 2006, Barney was selected to Team USA by

USA Baseball USA Baseball is the national governing body for organized baseball in the United States, and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Basebal ...

, where his team won the gold medal at the

World University Baseball Championship The World University Baseball Championship is an under-23 international college baseball competition sponsored by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) and was first held in 2002 in Italy. Until 2013, it was sanctioned by the then- ...

. He left Oregon State as the school's all-time leader in career hits (238) and at-bats (765) and finished second all-time in runs (152).

Professional career

Chicago Cubs

Barney was drafted by the

with the 127th overall pick in 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 ...

Minor Leagues

Barney spent 2007 to part of 2010 in the Cubs minor-league system. In 2009, he split time with the Double-A

Tennessee Smokies The Tennessee Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Kodak, Tennessee, a suburb of Knoxville. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They play at Smokies Stadium, directly off Int ...

and the Triple-A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...

, posting a .293 batting average in 137 games. In January 2010, Barney was invited to the Cubs' training camp, opening the season with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs.

Majors

On August 11, 2010, Barney was called up to play with the Cubs after they traded

Mike Fontenot Michael Eugene Fontenot Jr. (; born June 9, 1980) is an American former professional baseball infielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, and Philadelphia Phillies. He batted left-handed and ...

to the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

. Barney split time at second base and played alongside fellow rookie

Starlin Castro Starlin DeJesus Castro (born March 24, 1990) is a Dominican professional baseball infielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals. Castro i ...

who was the team's starting shortstop. He went on to hit .241 in 30 games. After a strong spring training, Barney earned a spot on the Cubs Opening Day roster as the starting second baseman in 2011, beating out

Jeff Baker Jeffrey Glen Baker (born June 21, 1981) is a German-born American former professional baseball player. He bats and throws right-handed. He played in Major League Baseball for the Colorado Rockies, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, ...

and

Blake DeWitt Blake Robert DeWitt (born August 20, 1985) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and Atlanta Braves. High school As a sen ...

for the job. After hitting .326 with 14 RBI in his first month, he was named the National League Rookie of the Month for April. In his first full major league season, Barney batted .276/.313/.353 and placed seventh in National League Rookie Of The Year voting. In 2012, Barney won a

as the best fielding second baseman in MLB. Barney was also awarded the 2012

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

award for his play at second base, the first by a Cub second baseman since

Ryne Sandberg Ryne Dee Sandberg (born September 18, 1959), nicknamed "Ryno", is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies (19 ...

's nine-year run from 1983 to 1991. During the season, he recorded only 2 errors at second base, and tied the MLB record for consecutive errorless games at second base with 141 games. For the year, he finished with a career best 4.6 WAR, including a 3.6 dWAR (defensive wins above replacement) while registering career highs in doubles (26), home runs (7) and RBI (44) Barney started 2013 on the disabled list, bouncing back from the brief set back to play 141 games in 2013, batting .208 with 7 home runs, 41 RBI, 49 runs scored and a .993 fielding percentage (4 errors). He was beaten out for the Gold Glove by

Brandon Phillips Brandon Emil Phillips (born June 28, 1981) is an American professional baseball second baseman and partial owner of the Lexington Legends of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland ...

. Barney was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

on July 22, 2014 after he hit .230 in 72 games for the Cubs.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On July 28, 2014, he was traded to the

for a player to be named later, minor league pitcher Jonathan Martinez. He made his first appearance as a pinch hitter on August 11 and started his first game at second base the following day. In 22 games with the Dodgers, he hit .303. He began 2015 with the Dodgers and appeared in two games, with four at-bats and no hits, before being optioned to the Dodgers new Triple-A affiliate, the

Oklahoma City Dodgers The Oklahoma City Dodgers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and play their home games at Chickasaw Bricktown Bal ...

. On June 12, 2015, he was designated for assignment and removed from the 40-man roster.

Toronto Blue Jays

On September 13, 2015, Barney was acquired by the

in exchange for Jack Murphy. The Blue Jays put him on the active roster after designating

Scott Copeland Scott Reast Copeland (born December 15, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015, and has also played for the New York Mets in MLB and the LG Twi ...

for assignment. Barney appeared in 15 games for the Blue Jays in 2015, and batted .304 with two home runs and four RBI. As he was acquired after September 1, he was ineligible to go into the postseason with Toronto. He was designated for assignment on October 19, and elected free agency on October 22. On December 11, 2015, Barney signed a one-year, $1.05 million contract with the Blue Jays. He recorded his 500th career hit on May 31, 2016, driving in 2 runs with a single to right field in a 4–1 win for the Blue Jays over the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. On July 1, 2016, Barney made his professional pitching debut, being pressed into service in the 19th inning of a marathon game against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

, and gave up the winning run, earning him a

loss Loss may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Loss'' (Bass Communion album) (2006) * ''Loss'' (Mull Historical Society album) (2001) *"Loss", a song by God Is an Astronaut from their self-titled album (2008) * Losses "(Lil Tjay son ...

. On July 20, he played his first professional game as an

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 ...

, starting in

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

against 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 f ...

. He had previously played there as a member of the 2006 under-21 United States baseball team. Barney appeared in 104 games for the Blue Jays in 2016, hitting .269 with four home runs and 19 RBI. Barney avoided salary arbitration with the Blue Jays on January 12, 2017, by agreeing to a one-year, $2.8875 million contract.

Texas Rangers

Barney signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers on February 5, 2018, and was released on March 19.

Coaching career

Barney was hired to be the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

of the

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

, the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, in 2020, but the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He subsequently left the Rangers organization to become the camp coordinator and volunteer assistant coach for the Oregon State Beavers joining former teammate and the school's head coach,

Mitch Canham Mitch is a short form of the masculine given name Mitchell. It is also sometimes a nickname, usually for a person with the surname Mitchell. It may refer to: People * Mitch Altman (born 1956), hacker and inventor * Mitch Apau (born 1990), Dutc ...

Personal life

Barney and his wife Lindsay have three daughters and a son. In 2019, he became an investor in the

Portland Diamond Project Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises have been proposed in Portland, Oregon on two occasions. The Oregon Stadium Campaign and the City of Portland were involved in creating a presentation for a committee in charge of relocating the Montreal Expo ...

, a group dedicated to bringing a Major League Baseball franchise to Portland, Oregon.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barney, Darwin 1985 births Albuquerque Isotopes players American baseball players of Korean descent American baseball players of Japanese descent American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arizona League Cubs players Baseball players from Portland, Oregon Chicago Cubs players Daytona Cubs players Gold Glove Award winners Iowa Cubs players Living people Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball third basemen Mesa Solar Sox players Native Hawaiian sportspeople Nashville Sounds managers Oklahoma City Dodgers players Oregon State Beavers baseball players Peoria Chiefs players Southridge High School (Beaverton, Oregon) alumni Toronto Blue Jays players Tennessee Smokies players Sportspeople from Beaverton, Oregon Oregon State Beavers baseball coaches