Richard Anthony Rodriguez (born March 1, 1963) 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 ...

player who pitched in the Major Leagues from to . Rodriguez was drafted by the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

in the 17th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign, opting to attend the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

. He was drafted again by the

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 ...

in the 9th round of the 1984 Major League Baseball Draft, and signed. Prior to the 1989 season, Rodriguez was traded by the Mets to the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

for minor leaguers Bill Stevenson and Brad Pounders. He made his major league debut in 1990 with the Padres and played for them until June 24, 1993, when he and Gary Sheffield were traded to the Florida Marlins for Andres Berumen, Trevor Hoffman and Jose Martinez. In 1994, he was released by the Marlins and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1996, he signed with the Cincinnati Reds, but was released during spring training. He signed with the Royals and spent the season in the minor leagues. After the 1996 season, he signed with 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 ...

, where he played for three seasons. He signed with the Mets for the 2000 season. In 2001, he played for 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 ...

. He signed with the Texas Rangers for the 2002 season, and the Anaheim Angels for the 2003 season.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Rich 1963 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers San Diego Padres players New York Mets players Florida Marlins players St. Louis Cardinals players San Francisco Giants players Cleveland Indians players Texas Rangers players Anaheim Angels players Omaha Royals players Norfolk Tides players Akron Aeros players Oklahoma RedHawks players American baseball players of Mexican descent Tennessee Volunteers baseball players Baseball players from Downey, California Sportspeople from El Monte, California Columbia Mets players Jackson Mets players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Little Falls Mets players Lynchburg Mets players Salt Lake Stingers players Tulsa Drillers players Wichita Wranglers players