José Rafael Santiago Fuentes (born November 5, 1974) is a 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), ...

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 ...

. Listed at 6' 3" , 200 lb. , Santiago batted and threw right-handed. He was born in

Fajardo Fajardo (, ) is a town and municipality -Fajardo Combined Statistical Area. Fajardo is the hub of much of the recreational boating in Puerto Rico and a popular launching port to Culebra, Vieques, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. It is ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

Playing career

Santiago was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 70th round of the

1994 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1994 Major League Baseball draft. Compensation picks Compensation Picks Other notable players * Troy Glaus, 2nd round, 37th overall by the San Diego Padres, but did no ...

. He debuted with the Royals in , bouncing back and forth between the major league club and the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

until being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in . The Phillies released him after the season. In , he played for 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 Fi ...

and in , he signed with 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 ...

organization, though he saw no time in the majors that year. In , he signed a minor league contract with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

and was called up to the majors in July. After that, Santiago was a member of the Puerto Rico national team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and joined the

Olmecas de Tabasco The Olmecas de Tabasco (English: Tabasco Olmecs) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico. Their home ballpark is the Estadio Centenario 27 de Febrero. The Olmecas won their only Mexican L ...

for the rest of the summer. In addition to playing for the New Orleans Zephyrs in the Mets farm system In , Santiago pitched for the Gigantes de Carolina Puerto Rico representing team in the

Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is norma ...

. He then signed with the

Dorados de Chihuahua Dorados de Chihuahua (English: Chihuahua Goldens) are a refounded baseball team from the city of Chihuahua. Recently, the Tuneros de San Luis moved to Chihuahua and took the Dorados namesake, which also brought the LMB (AAA) Mexican Baseball Le ...

in , finishing the season with a record of 7–11 and an ERA of 5.53. He retired after that season. In between, Santiago played winter ball with the

Cardenales de Lara The Cardenales de Lara ( en, Lara Cardinals) is a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Founded in 1942 and based in Barquisimeto, the ''Cardenales'' have won six domestic titles, including back-to-back in 1998 and 1999, a ...

and

Leones del Caracas The Caracas Base Ball Club C.A. or better known by its commercial name as the ''Leones del Caracas'', is a professional baseball team of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. In its creation, its headquarters are the University Stadium of C ...

clubs of the

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

Retirement

Coaching

After retiring, Santiago became a pitching coach. In 2015, he took over the role for the Gigantes de Carolina of the Liga Profesional Roberto Clemente. After coincidentally meeting

Edwin Díaz Edwin Orlando Díaz Laboy (born March 22, 1994) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Seattle Mariners. Within two months of his MLB debut, Díaz brok ...

during the 2016 offseason, Santiago began training the then-

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

reliever.

Other baseball initiatives

Santiago also serves other roles within baseball, such as that of pitching coach of several teams of the local Doble A amateur league including Cocoteros de Loiza, Guardianes de Dorado, Halcones de Gurabo and currently the Artesanos de Las Piedras. In 2016, he served as the head pitching coach of MLB's Development Program in Puerto Rico, then he was recruited by local baseball academies such as PRoBaseball Academy and IBAHS. Santiago runs a college placement program in Puerto Rico called Optimus Prospects Baseball Academy. He also leads a baseball initiative based in the municipality of Loíza.

Personal life

Santiago is currently living in his hometown of Loiza, Puerto Rico with his wife and former sports reporter, Sarai Colon. He has two children, Joselyn Marie and Ian Jareb Santiago. Santiago is a horse racing aficionado and has owned several thoroughbreds that competed at Hipódromo Camarero. He was also a known breeder for

cockfight A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ent ...

s in Puerto Rico, where that sport was legal until 2019.

References

External links

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Retrosheet
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Pura Pelota (VPBL stats)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santiago, Jose 1974 births Living people Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Cardenales de Lara players Charlotte Knights players Cleveland Indians players Dorados de Chihuahua players Gigantes de Carolina players Gulf Coast Royals players Kansas City Royals players Lansing Lugnuts players Leones del Caracas players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Mexican League baseball pitchers New Orleans Zephyrs players New York Mets players Norfolk Tides players Olmecas de Tabasco players Omaha Golden Spikes players Omaha Royals players People from Fajardo, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Mexico Philadelphia Phillies players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players Spokane Indians players Wichita Wranglers players Wilmington Blue Rocks players 2006 World Baseball Classic players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Macoto Cobras players