Xavier James Edwards (born August 9, 1999) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

in the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fra ...

organization.

Amateur career

Edwards graduated from North Broward Preparatory School in Coconut Creek, Florida. As a senior, he batted .406 with 16

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

, 24 stolen bases, and a .532

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

for the school's baseball team. He committed 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 ...

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

Professional career

San Diego Padres

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 (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

selected Edwards with the 38th overall selection in the 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft and signed for $2.6 million. He made his professional debut with the AZL Padres and was promoted to the Tri-City Dust Devils in August. In 45 total games between the two teams, Edwards slashed .346/.453/.409 with 16 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. In 2019, he began with the

Fort Wayne TinCaps The Fort Wayne TinCaps are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and play their home games at Parkview Field. They won their lone Midwest ...

, earning Midwest League All-Star honors. After slashing .336/.392/.414 with one home run, 30 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases over 77 games, he was promoted to the Lake Elsinore Storm in July. During 46 games with Lake Elsinore, he hit .301/.349/.367 with 14 stolen bases. After the season, on October 10, 2019, he was selected for the United States national baseball team in the 2019 WBSC Premier 12.

Tampa Bay Rays

On December 6, 2019, Edwards,

Hunter Renfroe Dustin Hunter Renfroe (born January 28, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, ...

, and a player to be named later (PTBNL) were traded to the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

in exchange for Tommy Pham and Jake Cronenworth. The PTBNL, Esteban Quiroz, was named in March 2020. Edwards did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the season. In 2021, he played for the Montgomery Biscuits, slashing .302/.377/.368 with 27 RBIs and 19 stolen bases over 79 games.

Miami Marlins

On November 15, 2022, Edwards was traded to the

along with

J. T. Chargois Jon Thomas Chargois ( ; born December 3, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners and T ...

in exchange for Marcus Johnson and Santiago Suarez. Edwards was optioned to the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp to begin the 2023 season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Xavier 1999 births Living people African-American baseball players Arizona League Padres players Baseball shortstops Baseball players from New York (state) Fort Wayne TinCaps players Lake Elsinore Storm players People from Mineola, New York Tri-City Dust Devils players United States national baseball team players 2019 WBSC Premier12 players 21st-century African-American sportspeople