Eighty-eight Dominicans, up from last year?s record 77, are on the rosters of Major League Baseball teams. This means the DR will be getting lots of mentions as the sports press follows the achievements of the mighty Caribbean ball players on 28 of the 30 teams. Only the Minnesota Twins and the Colorado Rockies do not have Dominicans on their staff, as reported in a start of season analysis featured in Diario Libre newspaper. The National League will have 44 players, and the American League 39. Of the total, 39 are pitchers, 29 outfielders, 12 are infielders, and two are catchers (Miguel Olivo and Alberto Castillo). David Ortiz (Boston) is the only designated batter. Two teams will be managed by Dominicans, San Francisco Giants (Felipe Alou) and Kansas City Royals (Tony Pena).
Teams with the most players are: Texas Rangers (6), Atlanta Braves (6), New York Mets (5), Kansas City Royals (5), Chicago White Sox (5), Florida Marlins, San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals have four each. Several Dominicans will be acting as coaches, and Omar Minaya is the general manager of the New York Mets.
Dominicans on MLB teams are:
American League:
Anaheim Angels: Bartolo Colon (P), Estevan Yan (P), Vladimir Guerrero (RF).
Oakland Athletics: Octavio Dotel (P) and Juan Carlos Cruz (P).
Toronto Bluejays: Miguel Batista (P)
Devil Rays of Tampa Bay: Jesus Colome (P) and Julio Lugo (SS)
Cleveland Indians: Ron Belliard (2B) and Johnny Peralta (SS)
Seattle Mariners: Julio Mateo (P), Miguel Olivo (C), Adrian Beltre (3B) and Wilson Valdez (SS).
Baltimore Orioles: Daniel Cabrera (P), Miguel Tejada (SS) and Sammy Sosa (RF).
Texas Rangers: Carlos Almanzar (P), Joaquin Benoit (P), Julio Astacio (P), Francisco Cordero (P), Agustin Montero (P) and Alfonso Soriano (2B).
Boston Red Sox: David Ortiz (DB) and Manny Ramirez (LF).
Kansas City Royals: Dennys Bautista (P), Runelvys Hernandez (P), Jose Lima (P), Alberto Castillo and Angel Berroa (SS).
Detroit Tigers: Franklin German (P) and Carlos Pena (IB).
Chicago White Sox: Damaso Marte (P), Luis Vizcaino (P), Pablo Ozuna (IF), Juan Uribe (SS) and Timo Perez (CF).
New York Yankees: Felix Rodriguez (P) and Alex Rodriguez (3B).
National League:
Houston Astros: Jose Vizcaino (2B).
Atlanta Braves: Roman Colon, Jorge Sosa (P), Julio Franco (1B), Wilson Betemit (SS), Rafael Furcal (SS) and Raul Mondesi (RF).
Milwaukee Brewers: Victor Santos (P).
St. Louis Cardinals: Alberto Reyes (P), Julian Tavarez (P), Hector Luna (SS) and Albert Pujols (1B).
Chicago Cubs: Neifi Perez (SS) and Aramis Ramirez (3B).
Arizona Diamondbacks: Greg Aquino (P), Jose Valverde (RP), Jerry Gil (SS) and Luis Terrero (CF).
Los Angeles Dodgers: Yhency Brazoban (P), Odalis Perez (P) and Antonio Perez (2B).
San Francisco Giants: Armando Benitez (P), Deivi Cruz (SS), Pedro Feliz (LF) and Moises Alou (RF).
Florida Marlins: Antonio Alfonseca (P), Guillermo Mota (P), Luis Castillo (2B) and Juan Encarnacion (RF).
New York Mets: Manny Aybar (P), Felix Heredia (P), Bartolome Fortunato (P), Pedro Martinez (P) and Jose Reyes (SS).
Washington Nationals: Francis Beltran (RP), Claudio Vargas (SP), Tony Blanco (1B), Cristian Guzman (SS), Henry Mateo (2B) and Jose Guillen (RF).
San Diego Padres: Freddy Guzman (CF).
Philadelphia Phillies: Pedro Liriano (P), Jose Offerman (IB) and Placido Polanco (2B).
Pittsburgh Pirates: Salomon Torres (P) and Jose Mesa (P)
Cincinnati Reds: Ramon Ortiz (P), D?Angelo Jimenez (2B) and Wily Mo Pena (RF).