Miguel Cairo

Miguel Cairo
Cincinnati Reds — No. 43
Utility player
Born: May 4, 1974 (1974-05-04) (age 37)
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 17, 1996 for the Toronto Blue Jays
Career statistics (through 2011 Season)
Batting average	.267
Home runs	40
Hits	1,016
Runs batted in	381
Teams
Toronto Blue Jays (1996) Chicago Cubs (1997) Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998–2000) Chicago Cubs (2001) St. Louis Cardinals (2001–2003) New York Yankees (2004) New York Mets (2005) New York Yankees (2006–2007) St. Louis Cardinals (2007) Seattle Mariners (2008) Philadelphia Phillies (2009) Cincinnati Reds (2010-Present)
Career highlights and awards
Topps All-Star Rookie Second Baseman (1998)

Miguel Jesús Cairo (born May 4, 1974 in Anzoátegui State, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball utility player who is currently with the Cincinnati Reds. He has mostly played second base during his career, but has played every position in baseball except catcher and pitcher. He currently plays mostly third base, in place of Scott Rolen during his off days/when he is on the DL. His batter walkup song is Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon.

Playing career

Cairo was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1990. In November 1995, the Dodgers traded Cairo with Willis Otañez to the Seattle Mariners for Mike Blowers, who then traded Cairo with Bill Risley to the Toronto Blue Jays for Edwin Hurtado and Paul Menhart in December 1995.

Cairo made his major league debut with the Toronto Blue Jays on April 17, 1996 as the starting 2nd baseman wearing #3. During the offseason, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays selected Cairo with the eighth pick in the 1997 MLB expansion draft. He is the sole remaining active player from the 1998 Devil Rays opening day roster.

Cairo signed with the Oakland Athletics during the 2000-01 offseason, but in March 2001 he was traded to the Cubs for Eric Hinske. In August 2001, the St. Louis Cardinals claimed Cairo on waivers from the Cubs.

2004-2006

Cairo signed with the Yankees during the 2003-04 offseason.

In 2004, Cairo won the second base job with the New York Yankees after starting the year in a platoon with Enrique Wilson. Cairo led the league in percentage of productive outs in 2005 for players with a minimum of 40 at-bats. Cairo recorded 17 productive outs in 32 productive out situations, for a PO% of 0.531. Cairo had the highest winning percentage of team wins when he played in a game of any player in the majors in 2005 (for players with over 100 games played). However, the Yankees declined to offer him a contract for 2005 and signed Tony Womack as their new second baseman. Cairo was signed by the New York Mets as a free agent before the 2005 season, only to return to the Yankees as a free agent in the 2006 season.

2007

On August 7, 2007, the Yankees designated Cairo for assignment in order to make room on the 40-man roster for Jason Giambi. He was released on August 15. On August 19, 2007, the St. Louis Cardinals signed Cairo to a minor league contract, with him reporting to Triple-A Memphis on August 22. On September 1, 2007, the Cardinals activated him and brought him up to start at second base in a game against the Cincinnati Reds. He became a free agent after the season.

2008 season

Cairo with the Reds.

On January 8, 2008, he signed a one-year contract with the Seattle Mariners.

In the early season, Cairo was seldom used losing his playing time to teammate Willie Bloomquist and Greg Norton. Norton was soon traded to the Atlanta Braves and with outfield trouble, the Mariners started a platoon with Bloomquist and Jeremy Reed in center field this allowed Cairo to be a back-up for struggling first baseman Richie Sexson.

On July 10, the Mariners released Sexson and Cairo assumed the role of full time first basemen for a few days until Bryan LaHair was finished ailing a sore toe. For the rest of the season, Cairo played most of his time at first base in a platoon with left-handed hitting LaHair. He got the rare start at the other infield positions when the starters had an off day.

2009 season

On February 15, 2009, Cairo signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the Philadelphia Phillies.^[1] On May 19, 2009, the Phillies outrighted Cairo to the AAA Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.^[2]

Cairo was sent back up to the Phillies on August 23 after they placed Greg Dobbs on the 15 day DL. He returned to the utility infield position, and was retained by the club through the remainder of the regular season. His performance during this stint, including several key hits, led to his inclusion in the division-winning team's post-season roster.^[3]

2010 season

On January 27. 2010, Cairo signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds. On April 2, 2010, Cairo made the Opening Day roster.

On December 8. 2010, as a free agent, Cairo signed a 2 year deal with the Cincinnati Reds. It was the first multi-year contract of his career.

2011 season

Cairo had his first multi-home run game of his career on August 13, vs the San Diego Padres where he hit 2 home runs in a game that the Reds won 13-1.

References

1. ^ Phillies agree to deal with Cairo
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091006&content_id=7370866&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Baseball Library (article)
• NYY Fans article - Miguel Cairo silences his critics

Persondata
Name	Cairo, Miguel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 4, 1974
Place of birth	Anzoátegui State, Venezuela
Date of death
Place of death