Mark D. Payton (born December 7, 1991) is an American

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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 cat ...

for the

Saitama Seibu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway, wh ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB). He has previously 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), ...

(MLB) for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

and

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 p ...

Amateur career

Payton was first drafted by the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

in the 31st round of the

2010 MLB draft The 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held on June 7–9, 2010 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. First-round selections The draft order was determined based on the 2009 MLB standings, with the worst team pic ...

out of

St. Rita of Cascia High School St. Rita of Cascia High School is an all-male Catholic high school located in the Ashburn neighborhood on Chicago's Southwest Side., United States. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, is operated by the Province of Our Mother ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He did not sign with the Twins and went on to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

for the Longhorns. While at Texas, he had a

Big-12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

record 101 straight games getting on base. After his junior season he was drafted by 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 F ...

in the 16th round of the

2013 MLB Draft The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in ...

, but did not sign and returned to Texas for his senior season. In 2013, he played

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 ...

with the Cotuit Kettleers of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. Payton played in 234 games during his four-year college career, batting .318/.425/.444 with seven

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

Professional career

New York Yankees

Payton was then drafted 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) Amer ...

in the seventh round of the

2014 MLB draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

. He signed and spent 2014 with both the Charleston RiverDogs and

Tampa Yankees Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, slashing .320/.418/.497 with four home runs over 48 total games. In 2015, he played for both Tampa and the

Trenton Thunder The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the Doub ...

, batting a combined .267/.346/.368 with six home runs and 52 RBIs. In 2016, he played for Tampa, Trenton, and the

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pen ...

, batting a combined .282/.358/.423 with ten home runs and 62 RBIs. In 2017, he played for Trenton and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, batting .256/.313/.389 with six home runs and 23 RBIs in 94 total games.

Oakland Athletics

During the 2018 Winter Meetings, the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

selected Payton from the Yankees in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. In 2019, Payton played for the AAA Las Vegas Aviators, batting .334/.400/.653 with 80 runs, 30 home runs, and 97 RBIs (8th in the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

) in 395 at bats. He was the PCL Player of the Week on July 14. After the season, on October 10, 2019, he was selected for the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball to ...

in the

2019 WBSC Premier 12 The 2019 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It was the second WBSC Premier12 event. The championship w ...

Cincinnati Reds

On December 12, 2019, Payton was selected by the

in the 2019 Rule 5 draft. On July 21, 2020, Payton was returned by the Reds to the Athletics. On August 7, Payton was traded back to Cincinnati in exchange for cash considerations. On August 22, Payton was selected to the major league roster. He made his major league debut that day against the St. Louis Cardinals. He finished the year 3-for-18 (.167) in 8 games with the Reds. Payton was assigned to the Triple-A

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, win ...

to begin the 2021 season, and was designated for assignment on July 19, 2021 after hitting .182/.250/.182 with no home runs or RBI in 24 games with Cincinnati.

New York Mets

On July 24, 2021, Payton was traded to 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 ...

in exchange for cash considerations. On November 30, 2021, Payton was non-tendered by the Mets, making him a free agent.

Chicago White Sox

On March 28, 2022, Payton signed a minor league deal with the

organization. He was assigned to the Triple–A Charlotte Knights, where he hit .289/.365/.522 with 20 home runs and 77 RBI in 102 games. On September 3, the White Sox selected Payton's contract, adding him to the major league roster. In 8 games for Chicago, he went 3–for–21 (.143) with 1 RBI and 4 walks. On November 18, he was non–tendered and became a free agent. On November 21, the White Sox re–signed Payton to a minor league deal. He was released on December 26, in order to pursue an opportunity in Japan.

Saitama Seibu Lions

On December 26, 2022, Payton signed with the

References

External links

Texas Longhorns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Payton, Mark 1991 births Living people Baseball players from Illinois Charleston RiverDogs players Chicago White Sox players Cincinnati Reds players Cotuit Kettleers players Las Vegas Aviators players Major League Baseball outfielders People from Orland Park, Illinois Saitama Seibu Lions players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Syracuse Mets players Tampa Yankees players Texas Longhorns baseball players Trenton Thunder players United States national baseball team players 2019 WBSC Premier12 players