Jimmy Paredes
Jimmy Santiago Paredes Terrero, is a Dominican professional baseball utility player who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball for the Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, and Philadelphia Phillies, in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Chiba Lotte Marines, and in the KBO League for the Doosan Bears.
Baseball career
New York Yankees
On July 2, 2006, Paredes was signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Yankees. He made his professional debut in 2007 with the Dominican Summer Yankees 1. He came to America for the 2008 season and played with the Gulf Coast League Yankees, hitting.280/.328/.379 with one home run, 15 RBI, and six stolen bases across 47 games. He played 2009 with the Staten Island Yankees of the Low–A New York–Penn League, where he was an All-Star, batting.302 with 23 steals in 54 games. He started 2010 with the Charleston RiverDogs of the Single–A South Atlantic League.Houston Astros
On July 31, 2010, at the trade deadline, the Yankees traded Paredes with Mark Melancon to the Houston Astros in exchange for Lance Berkman. The Astros subsequently assigned Paredes to the Single–A Lexington Legends of the SAL.On November 19, 2010, the Astros added Paredes to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. He signed a one-year, $414,000 deal before the season started. He started the 2011 season with the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Double–A Texas League, where he was an All-Star, splitting time at second and third base, batting.271 with 29 steals and 41 runs batted in.
On August 1, 2011, the Astros promoted Paredes to the major leagues for the first time to play third base, replacing the struggling Chris Johnson. In his first major league at bat, Paredes hit a two-run triple, becoming the first player in franchise history to triple in his first major league plate appearance.
In 2012, he played in 24 games for the Astros, and batted.189/.244/.230 with three RBI and two stolen bases. The following season, Paredes made 48 appearances for Houston, hitting.192/.231/.248 with one home run, 10 RBI, and four stolen bases.
Kansas City Royals
After the 2013 season, the Astros removed Paredes from their 40-man roster, placing him on waivers. He was claimed by the Miami Marlins on November 4, 2013. He was designated for assignment on February 7, 2014.On February 15, Paredes was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles. On February 17, he was claimed off waivers by the Kansas City Royals. On May 28, while playing for the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers, Paredes had an 8-RBI game in which he hit for the cycle. In 65 games for Omaha, he hit.305/.332/.457 with five home runs, 36 RBI, and 17 stolen bases. The Royals designated Paredes for assignment on July 16, after trading for Jason Frasor.
Baltimore Orioles
Paredes was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles on July 24, 2014. On September 12, Paredes hit his first career walk off hit, a double off of New York Yankees pitcher Adam Warren in a 2–1 victory.Paredes was not seen as a top contender for the Orioles' 25-man roster going into the 2015 season. However, Paredes had an extremely impressive spring training, batting.364/.368/.636 with seven doubles, a triple, two homers and 12 RBI. After a short stint on the disabled list to start the season, Paredes was activated to the Orioles' roster on April 18, 2015.
Through July 20, 2015, Paredes hit.294/.326/.463, with ten home runs and 39 RBI. Despite his hot start, Paredes cooled off dramatically during the final months of the season, and he hit.275/.310/.416, with ten home runs, 42 RBI, 17 doubles, 2 triples, 46 runs scored, and he collected exactly 100 hits. Paredes primarily played DH during the 2015 campaign, playing 81 games at the position, 11 as a pinch-hitter, eight as a third baseman, six at second base, two in right field, and one game as a pinch-runner and left fielder.