Darwin James Kunane Barney (born November 8, 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 ...

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 ...

and current coach. 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

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

. As a member of the Cubs in 2012, he won both the

Rawlings Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances. It is awarded at each fieldin ...

and the

Fielding Bible Award A Fielding Bible Award recognizes the best defensive player for each baseball positions, fielding position in Major League Baseball (MLB) based on "statistical analysis, the eye test, and any other factors that anelistswish to utilize." John D ...

in recognition of his defensive skills at

second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

High school

Barney graduated from Southridge High School in

Beaverton, Oregon Beaverton is a city in the Tualatin Valley, located in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oregon, with a small portion bordering Portland. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. Its population was ...

, where he helped lead the Skyhawks baseball team to its first baseball state championship in 2002.

College

Barney attended

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

and played for the Beavers for its back-to-back

NCAA Division I Baseball Championship The NCAA Division I Baseball Championship is held each year from May through June and features 64 college baseball teams in the United States, culminating in the eight-team College World Series, Men's College World Series (MCWS) at Charles Schwa ...

s in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, and was named to the all-tournament team in 2007. He was the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

Freshman of the Year in 2005, and earned Freshman

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n honors. In 2006, Barney was selected to Team USA by

USA Baseball The United States Baseball Federation, doing business as USA Baseball, is a 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that acts as the national Sports governing body, governing body for baseball in the United States. USA Baseball ...

, where his team won the gold medal at the

World University Baseball Championship The World University Baseball Championship is an under-23 international college baseball competition sponsored by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) and was first held in 2002 in Italy. Until 2013, it was sanctioned by the then- ...

. He left Oregon State as the school's all-time leader in career hits (238) and at-bats (765) and finished second all-time in runs (152).

Professional career

Chicago Cubs

Barney was drafted by the

with the 127th overall pick in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft.

Minor Leagues

Barney spent 2007 to part of 2010 in the Cubs minor-league system. In 2009, he split time with the Double-A

Tennessee Smokies The Knoxville Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The team was based in Kodak, Tennessee, a Knoxville suburb, fr ...

and the Triple-A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. T ...

, posting a .293 batting average in 137 games. In January 2010, Barney was invited to the Cubs' training camp, opening the season with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs.

Majors

On August 11, 2010, Barney was called up to play with the Cubs after they traded Mike Fontenot to 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 ...

. Barney split time at second base and played alongside fellow rookie Starlin Castro who was the team's starting shortstop. He went on to hit .241 in 30 games. After a strong spring training, Barney earned a spot on the Cubs Opening Day roster as the starting second baseman in 2011, beating out Jeff Baker and Blake DeWitt for the job. After hitting .326 with 14 RBI in his first month, he was named the National League Rookie of the Month for April. In his first full major league season, Barney batted .276/.313/.353 and placed seventh in National League Rookie Of The Year voting. In 2012, Barney won a

as the best fielding second baseman in MLB. Barney was also awarded the 2012

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances. It is awarded at each fieldin ...

award for his play at second base, the first by a Cub second baseman since

Ryne Sandberg Ryne Dee Sandberg (born September 18, 1959), nicknamed "Ryno", is an American former professional baseball player, coach (baseball), coach, and manager (baseball), manager. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second bas ...

's nine-year run from 1983 to 1991. During the season, he recorded only 2 errors at second base, and tied the MLB record for consecutive errorless games at second base with 141 games. For the year, he finished with a career best 4.6 WAR, including a 3.6 dWAR (defensive wins above replacement) while registering career highs in doubles (26), home runs (7) and RBI (44) Barney started 2013 on the disabled list, bouncing back from the brief set back to play 141 games in 2013, batting .208 with 7 home runs, 41 RBI, 49 runs scored and a .993 fielding percentage (4 errors). He was beaten out for the Gold Glove by Brandon Phillips. Barney 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 July 22, 2014, after he hit .230 in 72 games for the Cubs.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On July 28, 2014, he was traded to the

for a player to be named later, minor league pitcher Jonathan Martinez. He made his first appearance as a pinch hitter on August 11 and started his first game at second base the following day. In 22 games with the Dodgers, he hit .303. He began 2015 with the Dodgers and appeared in two games, with four at-bats and no hits, before being optioned to the Dodgers new Triple-A affiliate, the

Oklahoma City Dodgers The Oklahoma City Comets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and play their ho ...

. On June 12, 2015, he was designated for assignment and removed from the 40-man roster.

Toronto Blue Jays

On September 13, 2015, Barney was acquired by the

in exchange for Jack Murphy. The Blue Jays put him on the active roster after designating Scott Copeland for assignment. Barney appeared in 15 games for the Blue Jays in 2015, and batted .304 with two home runs and four RBI. As he was acquired after September 1, he was ineligible to go into the postseason with Toronto. He was designated for assignment on October 19, and elected free agency on October 22. On December 11, 2015, Barney signed a one-year, $1.05 million contract with the Blue Jays. He recorded his 500th career hit on May 31, 2016, driving in 2 runs with a single to right field in a 4–1 win for the Blue Jays over 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 ...

. On July 1, 2016, Barney made his professional pitching debut, being pressed into service in the 19th inning of a marathon game against 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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

, and gave up the winning run, earning him a loss. On July 20, he played his first professional game as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

, starting in left field against 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 had previously played there as a member of the 2006 under-21 United States baseball team. Barney appeared in 104 games for the Blue Jays in 2016, hitting .269 with four home runs and 19 RBI. Barney avoided salary arbitration with the Blue Jays on January 12, 2017, by agreeing to a one-year, $2.8875 million contract.

Texas Rangers

Barney signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers on February 5, 2018, and was released on March 19.

Coaching career

Barney was hired to be the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of the

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

, the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, in 2020, but the season was cancelled due to 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 ...

. He subsequently left the Rangers organization to become the camp coordinator and volunteer assistant coach for the Oregon State Beavers joining former teammate and the school's head coach, Mitch Canham.

Personal life

Barney and his wife Lindsay have three daughters and a son. In 2019, he became an investor in the Portland Diamond Project, a group dedicated to bringing a Major League Baseball franchise to Portland, Oregon. Barney is one-fourth Japanese and one-fourth Korean, from his mother's side, and half Caucasian, from his father's side. His father, David Barney, was born in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and played college basketball as a point guard despite only being 5 foot 6.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barney, Darwin 1985 births Albuquerque Isotopes players 21st-century American sportsmen American baseball players of Korean descent American baseball players of Japanese descent American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arizona League Cubs players Baseball players from Portland, Oregon Chicago Cubs players Daytona Cubs players Gold Glove Award winners Iowa Cubs players Living people Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball third basemen Mesa Solar Sox players Nashville Sounds managers Oklahoma City Dodgers players Oregon State Beavers baseball players Peoria Chiefs players Southridge High School (Beaverton, Oregon) alumni Toronto Blue Jays players Tennessee Smokies players Sportspeople from Beaverton, Oregon Baseball players from Washington County, Oregon Oregon State Beavers baseball coaches