Omir Santos Rios (born April 29, 1981) is a 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

. 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), ...

for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, 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 ...

, the Detroit Tigers, and 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 is currently the manager of the

Lynchburg Hillcats The Lynchburg Hillcats are a Minor League Baseball team in Lynchburg, Virginia that plays in the Carolina League and is the Single-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They were a farm team of the Atlanta Braves from 2011 to 2014, the Cincinna ...

, the

Single-A Class A, also known as Single-A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for each ...

affiliate of the

Cleveland Guardians 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 ...

Career

He attended

East Central College East Central College (ECC) is a public community college with its main campus in Union, Missouri. It also offers classes in Rolla and Washington. Approximately 2,100 students are enrolled in classes each semester. ECC is accredited by the High ...

Union, Missouri Union is a city in and the county seat of Franklin County, Missouri, United States. It is located on the Bourbeuse River, southwest of St. Louis. The population was 10,204 at the 2010 census, with the city showing the highest growth rate (32% ...

. The

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

drafted Santos in the 21st round of the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft, but he made his major league debut in 2008 for the

Baltimore Orioles

On September 5, 2008, Santos was called up to the Orioles from the Triple-A

Norfolk Tides The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's location on the Chesapea ...

. Santos played in 11 games and had 10 at-bats, recording one hit. He caught nine total games, starting three.

New York Mets

On January 20, 2009, Santos signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets. On April 17, 2009, Santos was called up to the Mets to replace the injured

Brian Schneider Brian Duncan Schneider (born November 26, 1976), nicknamed "Hoops", is an American former professional baseball catcher and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals, New York Mets, and Philade ...

after starting the season with the AAA

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

. On April 27, 2009, Santos hit his first career home run, a grand slam off

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

pitcher

Aníbal Sánchez Aníbal Alejandro Sánchez Jr. (; born February 27, 1984) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2006 with the Florida Marlins and has also played for the Detroit Tig ...

. It was the first grand slam hit in

Citi Field Citi Field is a baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City, United States. It opened in 2009 and is the home field of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. The stadium was built as a replacement for the adjacent ...

. The home run also produced his first career RBI. On May 23, 2009, Santos hit a two-run go-ahead home run off

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 ...

closer

Jonathan Papelbon Jonathan Robert Papelbon (; born November 23, 1980) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the Boston Red Sox, with whom he was an All-Star in four cons ...

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Bas ...

in the ninth inning with two outs, which was the difference maker in the game. On May 29, 2009, against the

, he hit a game-tying home run in the fifth inning and a game-winning single in the bottom of the 11th. Soon after the game, the Mets traded their other backup catcher Ramón Castro to 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 ...

for pitcher Lance Broadway, ensuring that Santos stayed with the team as the backup catcher to

. On November 25, 2009, Santos was named on the 51st annual Topps All-Star Rookie team. Santos finished the season with seven home runs, 40

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) 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 the ba ...

(RBI), 73 hits and a .260 average in 96 games. On February 20, 2010, the Mets signed catcher

Rod Barajas Rodrigo Richard Barajas (born September 5, 1975) is an American former professional baseball catcher and most recently catching and quality control coach for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Barajas served as the interim mana ...

to a Major League deal. With

Henry Blanco Henry Ramón Blanco (born August 29, 1971) is a Venezuelan professional baseball coach and former player. He is currently the catching and strategy coach for the Washington Nationals. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1997 to ...

serving as the backup catcher, Santos began the season in the minor leagues. On March 7, 2010, Santos hit an inside-the-park grand slam in spring training. On June 4, 2010, the Mets called up Santos to back up the backup catcher

who was a "bit banged up". He was optioned back to the minors on June 7. On November 10, 2010, Santos refused his minor league assignment and became a free agent.

Detroit Tigers

During the 2010 MLB Winter Meetings, Santos signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers. He was promoted to the Tigers on April 19 and was given number 18 to fill in for the injured Victor Martínez. On April 19 against the

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 ...

, Santos recorded a pinch hit single. The next day, he got the start at catcher, where he went 0-for-4 and caught nine innings. Santos was recalled again in August to replace

Miguel Cabrera José Miguel Cabrera Torres (born April 18, 1983), nicknamed "Miggy", is a Venezuelan professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Since his debut in 2003 he has been a two-t ...

who was attending the birth of his child. The Tigers used Cabrera's paternity leave as an opportunity for Santos to catch a game in place of Alex Avila, who had started the previous 18 games. Regular backup catcher Víctor Martínez had been limited to designated hitter due to injury. After being outrighted to Triple-A in 2011, Santos was given an invitation to spring training as a non-roster player. He did not make the opening day roster, but was called up to the Tigers on May 30, 2012 after injuries to Alex Avila and

Gerald Laird Gerald Lee Laird III (born November 13, 1979) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, and Arizona Diamondbacks. C ...

. On June 2, 2012, Santos had a walk-off sacrifice fly to beat the New York Yankees. On June 6, 2012, Santos 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 June 8, 2012, Santos declined the minor league assignment and became a free agent.

Colorado Rockies

On June 13, 2012, Santos signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies.

Cleveland Indians

On February 5, 2013, Santos signed a minor league contract with the

. Santos started the 2013 season with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers, and was called up to the Indians on April 9, 2013. He appeared in one game for the Indians before being optioned back to Columbus a week later. On July 14, Santos was outrighted off the 40-man roster to Columbus. Santos declared free agency on October 3, 2013.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Santos signed a minor league deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates on February 7, 2014.

Washington Nationals

Santos 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 ...

in 2015. He was released on April 2, 2015.

Second stint with Indians

On February 26, 2016, Santos signed a minor league deal with the

Coaching career

Santos was named as the bench coach for the

Mahoning Valley Scrappers The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Niles, Ohio, a city in the valley of the Mahoning River, and play their home games at Eastwood Field. From 1999 to 2020, they were ...

in 2019. He was promoted to manager of the Dominican Summer League Indians 1 on January 24, 2020.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santos, Omir 1981 births Living people Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Major League Baseball catchers Baltimore Orioles players New York Mets players Detroit Tigers players Cleveland Indians players Staten Island Yankees players Greensboro Bats players Gulf Coast Yankees players Battle Creek Yankees players Tampa Yankees players Trenton Thunder players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players Norfolk Tides players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Binghamton Mets players Gulf Coast Mets players Gulf Coast Tigers players Sportspeople from Bayamón, Puerto Rico Toledo Mud Hens players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Columbus Clippers players Indianapolis Indians players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic