Daniel Anthony Otero (born February 19, 1985) is an American 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) for the

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 ...

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

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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

Amateur career

Otero went to Ransom Everglades High School in Coconut Grove, Florida. He began his

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

career at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, where he played for the Duke Blue Devils baseball team in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

from 2004 through 2006. Playing

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

in the summer of 2005, he helped the Newport Gulls win their third New England Collegiate Baseball League championship. Otero transferred to the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

(USF), where he played his senior season with the South Florida Bulls baseball team in the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

Professional career

San Francisco Giants

The

drafted Otero out of USF in the 21st round (644th overall) of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. They added him to the 40 man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft after the 2011 season. Otero made the club's Opening Day roster in 2012. Otero won the 2012 Harry S. Jordan Award, which is given in recognition of the player in his first big league camp whose performance and dedication in Spring Training best exemplifies the Giants' spirit. In his major league debut, on April 7, 2012, Otero recorded his first career major league strikeout against Justin Upton.

Oakland Athletics

On March 26, 2013, Otero was claimed off waivers by 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 ...

. The Yankees designated him for assignment the next day. Otero was then claimed off waivers by the

on March 29, 2013, and immediately optioned to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. Otero was designated for assignment after the club acquired Stephen Vogt from the Tampa Bay Rays on April 5, 2013. He was outrighted to Sacramento on April 7. On June 14, 2013, he was brought up from Sacramento as Hideki Okajima was optioned down. He had his first major-league win in relief of A.J. Griffin on July 2, 2013 against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

. In 33 games for the A's, he was 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in 39 innings. For the 2014 season, Otero served as a mainstay in the A's bullpen, pitching a career high 72 games. He was 8-2 with a 2.28 ERA in innings. On September 30, 2014, Otero was the losing pitcher in the 2014 American League Wild Card Game, giving up two earned runs in the bottom of the 12th inning. He struggled the following season, appearing in 41 games but having an ERA of 6.75 in innings.

Cleveland Indians

On November 3, 2015, Otero was claimed off of waivers by the Philadelphia Phillies. They designated him for assignment on December 11. He was traded to the

for cash considerations on December 18. In his first season with Cleveland, he rebounded from the previous season, having an ERA of 1.53 in 62 appearances. He had an ERA of 2.85 in 2017. The following season proved to be a difficult one for Otero as he registered an ERA of 5.22 in 61 appearances. On October 29, 2018, he was selected MLB All-Stars at 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series. On October 31, 2019, the Indians announced they had declined their club option on Otero's contract for the 2020 season, making Otero a free agent.

New York Yankees

Otero signed a minor league contract with the

on February 3, 2020. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Otero became a free agent on November 2.

Post-baseball career

On March 22, 2021, it was announced that Otero was hired by the

to join their baseball operations department.

Personal life

Otero and his wife, Tiffany, have three daughters. He is of Cuban descent.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otero, Dan 1985 births Living people American sportspeople of Cuban descent Baseball players from Miami Cleveland Indians players Connecticut Defenders players Duke Blue Devils baseball players Fresno Grizzlies players Major League Baseball pitchers Nashville Sounds players Oakland Athletics players Richmond Flying Squirrels players Sacramento River Cats players Salem-Keizer Volcanoes players San Francisco Giants players San Jose Giants players South Florida Bulls baseball players