Ariel Prieto (born October 22, 1969) is a Cuban 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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. 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) from 1995 to 2001 for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

and

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

. He is currently the pitching coach for the GCL Mets.

Career

Prieto played baseball both for Fajardo University, located in

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

, and for Piratas de Isla de la Juventud in the

Cuban National Series The Cuban National Series (, or SNB) is a domestic baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of the Cuban League in the wake of the Cuban Revolution, the National Series is a part of the Cuban baseball league system. For most ...

, a winter baseball league in Cuba. Concerned that he would be unable to leave Cuba if he was highly valued as an athlete, Prieto intentionally pitched poorly during the winter of 1994. Prieto and his wife were granted visas to travel outside of Cuba in April 1995, and they relocated to Florida. Prieto was selected fifth overall in the 1995 MLB draft by the

. He made his major-league debut for the Athletics that July. Prieto, being unfamiliar with American banks and credit cards, walked around with his $1.2 million signing-bonus check in his pocket for over a week. He won two games and lost six, becoming one of the few players to be drafted and then play in MLB during the same season. In 1996, Prieto had what was arguably his best season, winning 6 games and losing 7 with an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) of 4.15. Prieto was traded to the

before the 2001 season. With the Devil Rays, Prieto saw action in three games, without any decisions, allowing one

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. His one season with the Devil Rays was his last season in the major leagues. Prieto played in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

during the middle 2000s, playing with the Venados de Mazatlán, a team that he also played for in the Caribbean World Series, held that year in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. During six MLB seasons, Prieto won 15 games and lost 24, with an overall 4.85 ERA. Prieto played professionally until 2005 in

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

, without returning to MLB.

Coaching career

Prieto spent the 2009 through 2011 seasons as the pitching coach for the Athletics' Arizona League team. On November 10, 2011, Prieto was announced as the pitching coach for the Vermont Lake Monsters, the Athletics'

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

(Single A, short season) team. From 2012 to 2015, Prieto served as interpreter for fellow Cuban defector,

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 ...

outfielder

Yoenis Céspedes Yoenis Céspedes Milanés (born October 18, 1985), nicknamed "La Potencia" (The Power), is a Cuban-born former professional baseball outfielder. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut on March 28, 2012, for the Oakland Athletics, and has ...

. In 2015, Prieto was hired as a coach for 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 let go in 2017. Prieto was named as the pitching coach for the GCL Mets of the

organization for the 2018 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prieto, Ariel 1969 births Living people Oakland Athletics players Tampa Bay Devil Rays players Oakland Athletics coaches Major League Baseball players from Cuba 20th-century Cuban sportsmen Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball pitchers Arizona Diamondbacks coaches Palm Springs Suns players Edmonton Trappers players Modesto A's players Sacramento River Cats players Durham Bulls players Nashville Sounds players Toledo Mud Hens players Albuquerque Isotopes players Yaquis de Obregón players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Mexico Caribes de Oriente players Defecting Cuban baseball players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Cuban expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Havana

Career

Coaching career

See also

References

External links