Samad Jahad Taylor (born July 11, 1998) is an American 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 ...

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

and

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 ...

for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

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). He has previously played in MLB for 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 ...

Career

Taylor attended Corona High School in

Corona, California Corona (Spanish language, Spanish for "Crown") is a city in northwestern Riverside County, California, United States, directly bordering Orange County, California, Orange and San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino counties. Its curre ...

. He committed to play

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, ...

for the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

Cleveland Indians

Taylor was selected in the 10th round of the

2016 Major League Baseball draft The 2016 Major League Baseball draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks were distributed for players who ...

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

and signed for $125,000. He was assigned to the

Rookie-level 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 L ...

Arizona League Indians The Arizona Complex League Guardians are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The team is ...

, where he hit .293 with one home run and 14 runs batted in (RBIs) in 32 games. He started the 2017 season with the

Low-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for ...

Mahoning Valley Scrappers The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Niles, Ohio, a city in the valley of the Mahoning River, and play their home games at Eastwood Field. From 1999 to 2020, they were ...

Toronto Blue Jays

On July 31, 2017, the Indians traded Taylor and pitcher Thomas Pannone to the

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 ...

in exchange for reliever Joe Smith. He later said that it took several weeks to adjust to the trade. The Blue Jays assigned Taylor to the

Rookie Advanced 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 ...

Bluefield Blue Jays The Bluefield Blue Jays were a minor league baseball team of the Rookie Appalachian League representing the twin cities of Bluefield, West Virginia, and Bluefield, Virginia. The team played their home games at Bowen Field at Peters Park, a histori ...

for five games before promoting him to the

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bail ...

for the remainder of the season. In 52 total games in 2017, Taylor hit .294 with six home runs. Taylor played for the

Single-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A, Double-A (baseball), Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams cl ...

Lansing Lugnuts The Lansing Lugnuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Athletics (baseball), Athletics. They are located in Lansing, Michigan, and play their home games at Jackson Field (Lansing), Jackson Fie ...

in 2018. In 121 games, he batted .228 with nine home runs and 53 RBI. His 44 stolen bases were a significant increase from 7 the previous year, which he credited to studying the tendencies of pitchers and catchers. He was promoted to the

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

Dunedin Blue Jays The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpark, ...

in 2019, where he played in 108 games and hit .216 with seven home runs, 38 RBI, and 26 steals. After the 2020 minor league 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 ...

, Taylor played 25 games for the

Canberra Cavalry The Canberra Cavalry (nicknamed Cavs) were a professional baseball team from Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia. Established in 2010, the team was a founding member of the Australian Baseball League (ABL). The Cavs home ground was Narrabundah B ...

in the

Australian Baseball League The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it s ...

from December 2020 to February 2021. He played the 2021 season for the Double-A

New Hampshire Fisher Cats The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team, which plays in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League, is the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Ja ...

, batting .294 with 16 home runs, 52 RBI, and 30 stolen bases in 87 games and was named a MiLB.com Organization All-Star. Taylor played with the

Tigres del Licey Tigres del Licey (English: Licey Tigers) is a professional baseball team in the Dominican Professional Baseball League (LIDOM). The team was founded in 1907 and is based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Tigres is the oldest team in LIDOM and ...

of the

Dominican Winter League The Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League ( or LIDOM) is a professional baseball Winter league baseball, winter league consisting of six teams spread across the Dominican Republic; it is the highest level of professional baseball played ...

during the offseason. He started 2022 with the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

. He was placed on the injured list on July 4, then came back for one game on July 13 before going back on the injured list for the rest of the season. Before his injury, he hit .258 with 9 home runs and 23 stolen bases in 70 games in his first trip through Triple-A.

Kansas City Royals

On August 2, 2022, Taylor and pitcher Max Castillo were traded to the

for

Whit Merrifield Whitley David Merrifield (born January 24, 1989) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder who played nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillie ...

. Taylor first played after the trade for the

Surprise Saguaros The Surprise Saguaros are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Surprise, Arizona, at Surprise Stadium. The ballpark is also the spring training facility of the Kansas City Roya ...

in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

, where he hit .152 with 9 stolen bases in 76 plate appearances. On November 10, the Royals selected Taylor's contract to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. Taylor began the 2023 season with the Triple-A

Omaha Storm Chasers The Omaha Storm Chasers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are located in Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha, Nebraska, Omah ...

. In 62 games to start the season for Omaha, he hit .304/.409/.463 with 6 home runs, 37 RBI, and 34 stolen bases. On June 16, 2023, Taylor was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. The next day, Taylor made his major league debut, going 1 for 3 with his first major league hit coming on a walk-off RBI single on a deep fly ball that

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

' center fielder

Mike Trout Michael Nelson Trout (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). Trout is an 11-time Major League Baseball All-Star Game, All-Star, three-time American League (A ...

did not attempt to catch. Taylor split the rest of 2023 between the majors and Triple-A: he was

optioned In the film industry, an option agreement is a contract that "rents" the rights to a source material to a potential film producer. It grants the film producer the exclusive option to purchase rights to the source material if they live up to the te ...

down to Omaha three different times, with his final demotion coming on September 4. Taylor played in 31 games for the Royals, 11 times as a substitute, and batted .200 with no home runs and 8 stolen bases. After his initial call-up, he played in 27 more games for the Storm Chasers from July through September, batting .295 with 2 home runs and 9 stolen bases.

Seattle Mariners

On January 30, 2024, Taylor was traded to the

for a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

or cash considerations. Seattle sent minor league pitcher Natanael Garabitos to the Royals on March 16 to complete the trade. Taylor began 2024 with the Triple-A

Tacoma Rainiers The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, ...

. After 4 games with the Rainiers, Taylor was recalled to the Mariners on April 5. He played in three games, going 2-for-5 and scoring twice before he was optioned back to Tacoma on April 8. He played the rest of the season with Tacoma, hitting .262 with 11 home runs. His 50 stolen bases led 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 ...

, topping teammate Ryan Bliss, who finished second with 40 steals. The Rainiers broke the league record for most steals in a season. Taylor 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 ...

by Seattle on January 15, 2025. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Tacoma on January 21. In 24 games for Tacoma, Taylor batted .321 with five home runs, 14 RBI, and six stolen bases. On April 29, the Mariners selected Taylor's contract, adding him to their active roster.

Personal life

Taylor is married to Alexia Woodley. Their first child, Aizen, was born in 2024. Growing up, Taylor was a fan of

Chone Figgins Desmond DeChone Figgins (; ; born January 22, 1978), nicknamed "Figgy", is an American former professional baseball third baseman and outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Seattle Mariners, a ...

and José Reyes. In 2022 with the Buffalo Bisons, he credited

Mallex Smith Mallex Lydell Smith (born May 6, 1993) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Charros de Jalisco of the Mexican League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays, and Seattle ...

as a mentor. Taylor's favorite video game is ''

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter military video game series and media franchise published by Activision, starting in 2003. The games were first developed by Infinity Ward, then by Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games. Several spin-of ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Samad 1998 births Living people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arizona League Indians players Baseball players from Corona, California Bluefield Blue Jays players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Canberra Cavalry players Dunedin Blue Jays players Kansas City Royals players Lansing Lugnuts players Mahoning Valley Scrappers players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball second basemen New Hampshire Fisher Cats players Omaha Storm Chasers players Seattle Mariners players Surprise Saguaros players Tacoma Rainiers players Tigres del Licey players Vancouver Canadians players Yaquis de Obregón players