Joaquín Arias (born 21 September 1984) is a Dominican former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the Texas Rangers,

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

, and

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

Early life

Arias was born on 21 September 1984, in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

Professional career

Minor leagues

Arias signed with 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) Am ...

as an international free agent in 2001. He batted .266 for the Battle Creek Yankees of the Class A

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 ...

in 2003. The Texas Rangers acquired Arias on 23 March 2004, completing a trade made 36 days earlier on 16 February that sent

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, third baseman and designated hitter and current businessman. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (ML ...

to the

for Alfonso Soriano. Among five Yankees prospects offered to the Rangers, Arias was selected over Robinson Canó because he was a more polished defender and two years younger.

Texas Rangers (2006, 2008–2010)

Arias made his Major League debut with the Rangers on 13 September 2006, drawing a

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against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

New York Mets (2010)

Arias was designated for assignment on 24 August 2010 and traded to the

on 31 August for

Jeff Francoeur Jeffrey Braden Francoeur (; born January 8, 1984), nicknamed "Frenchy", is an American former professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals ...

Kansas City Royals

On 4 November 2010, Arias was claimed off waivers by 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) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

, but the Royals designated Arias for assignment on 19 December to make room on the 40-man roster for the prospects acquired in the

Zack Greinke Donald Zackary Greinke ( ; born October 21, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. Greinke last played for the Kansas City Royals, with whom he played across two stints, from his 2004 debut to 2010, and from 202 ...

trade.

San Francisco Giants (2012–2015)

The

signed Arias to a minor league contract on 15 December 2011. After spending the 2012 Spring training with the Giants, he was assigned to

Fresno Grizzlies The Fresno Grizzlies are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They are located in Fresno, California, and play their home games at Chukchansi Park, which was opened in 2002 in ...

, Giants' Triple-A affiliate, on 5 April. He played 18 games for the Grizzlies, hitting .400 with 2

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 17

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBIs). The Giants called up Arias on 25 April.

2012

Arias hit his first major-league home run in his 331st career major-league at-bat on 22 May 2012. The two-run homer off

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

starting pitcher Shaun Marcum gave San Francisco a 4–0 lead in the 4th inning of a game the Giants would go on to win by a score of 6–4. On 13 June 2012, playing third base, Arias fielded a tricky grounder by Jason Castro, who was pinch-hitting for Xavier Cedeño. Arias, stumbling backwards as he gloved the ball, quickly threw the baseball to first base for the final out of Matt Cain's perfect game. On 22 August 2012, he accumulated a single-game career high of five RBIs. In total, Arias appeared in 112 games of the 2012 regular season, batting .270 with 5 home runs and 34 RBIs. He was also

hit by pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provide ...

es a team-high 5 times. The Giants finished the 2012 season as World Series Champions. During the postseason Arias appeared in 12 games, all of them as a mid- to late-inning replacement. On 10 October, during the

Division Series The Division Series is the quarterfinal round of the Major League Baseball postseason. Four series are played in this round, two each for both the American League and the National League. 1981 season The first use of the term "Division Series ...

against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

, Arias entered the game in the fourth inning and had two hits in three times at bat. Both hits were doubles, after both of which Arias eventually scored runs in a game the Giants won 8–3. Overall for the postseason, Arias went 3-for-8 (.375) with three runs scored.

2013

On 24 June 2013, Arias left a game against the

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in the second inning with a left

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

injury after scoring from

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

on a double by Andrés Torres. The injury only sidelined Arias for a little over a week and he took the field for the Giants against the Cincinnati Reds on 3 July. However, his return proved to be short-lived when he required an emergency

appendectomy An appendectomy (American English) or appendicectomy (British English) is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedur ...

late on the night of 7 July. The following day the Giants placed him on the 15-day disabled list. He was re-activated and returned to the team on 26 July. Arias started 47 games, appeared in 102 games, batting .271 with 19 RBIs.

2014

On 23 January 2014, Arias and the Giants agreed on a two-year, $2.6-million contract. Arias appeared in 107 games, batting .254 with 15 RBIs. In the 2014 postseason, Arias appeared in 8 games, batting 2-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored, as the Giants won the 2014 World Series over the

2015

On 28 April 2015, Arias hit 3-for-3 off

Clayton Kershaw Clayton Edward Kershaw (born March 19, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-handed starting pitcher, Kershaw has spent his entire MLB career with the Dodgers s ...

, becoming the first Giant get three hits off Kershaw in one game. Arias appeared in 40 games, batting .207, before being designated for assignment on 27 July. Árias cleared waivers and was assigned to the Triple-A

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

Arizona Diamondbacks

On 13 December 2015, Arias signed a minor league deal with the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

. He was released on 31 March 2016.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arias, Joaquin 1984 births Living people Águilas Cibaeñas players Arizona League Rangers players Battle Creek Yankees players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Estrellas Orientales players Fresno Grizzlies players Frisco RoughRiders players Gulf Coast Yankees players Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball shortstops New York Mets players Oklahoma City RedHawks players Oklahoma RedHawks players Omaha Storm Chasers players Sacramento River Cats players San Francisco Giants players Baseball players from Santo Domingo Stockton Ports players Texas Rangers players