Abraham Almonte

Abraham Almonte (born June 27, 1989) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Olmecas de Tabasco of the Mexican League.

He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, and New York Mets.

The New York Yankees initially signed Almonte as a free agent.

After being signed in 2005, was assigned to play in the Dominican Summer League (DSL) for the DSL Yankees.

Almonte started his professional career as a second baseman, but was transitioned to outfield due to his speed and the organization's need for young outfielders.

In 63 DSL games, he batted .254 with 26 runs batted in (RBIs), eight home runs, and a .409 on-base percentage (OBP), .450 slugging percentage (SLG), and a .859 on-base plus slugging (OPS).

The following season in 2007, Almonte was promoted to the Yankees' Gulf Coast League team, where he excelled with a .288 batting average in 49 games.

Over the next two seasons (2008-2009), Almonte played for the Charleston RiverDogs of the Single–A South Atlantic League.

In 2009, Almonte batted .288 with 56 RBIs in 115 games.

In 2010, shortly after being promoted to the Tampa Yankees of the High–A Florida State League, played only 15 games before undergoing surgery to repair a torn right labrum.

He came back healthy in 2011 for Tampa, and reached a 34-game hit streak midseason.

Almonte's performance earned him a promotion to the Trenton Thunder of the Double-A Eastern League.

In 78 games, he batted .276 with four home runs and 25 RBIs.

Before the 2013 season, he was traded to the Mariners for Shawn Kelley.

Almonte was first called up to the major leagues at the end of August 2013.

Almonte was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

When he was 16, his professional career began with the New York Yankees, as they signed him and brought him to the United States to play baseball.

On February 13, 2013, the Yankees traded Almonte to the Seattle Mariners for relief pitcher Shawn Kelley.

Once becoming a Mariner, Almonte was first sent to the Jackson Generals of the Class AA Southern League.

While there, he hit .255 with 18 RBIs and 4 home runs in 29 games before impressing the organization enough to be called up to Triple-A with the Tacoma Rainiers.

Almonte spent the majority of the 2013 campaign with the Tacoma Rainers, playing in 94 games and batting .314 with 50 RBIs, 11 home runs, and a. 403 OBP, .491 SLG and an .894 OPS.

These numbers were good enough to give Almonte a shot at the MLB level, as he was called up on August 30, 2013, and made his debut for the Seattle Mariners against the Houston Astros on the road in Houston, Texas.

On September 9, Almonte hit his first major league home run against Astros' relief pitcher Chia Jen Lo.

Almonte began the 2014 regular season as the starting center fielder and leadoff hitter for the Mariners.

Almonte played in 27 games early in the 2014 campaign, and struggled to produce at the major league level, only batting a mere .198 with eight RBIs, 40 strikeouts and a .248 OBP and .292 SLG.

To halt the skid and rejuvenate the Mariners lineup, Almonte was optioned to Triple-A on May 5.

Overall in part of two seasons with Seattle, Almonte appeared in 52 MLB games, batting .225 with three home runs and 17 RBIs.

On July 31, 2014, the Mariners traded Almonte and Stephen Kohlscheen to the San Diego Padres for Chris Denorfia.

With the Padres through the remainder of the season, Almonte batted .265 in 32 games.

During 2015, Almonte appeared in 31 games for San Diego, compiling a .204 batting average.

On July 31, 2015, the Padres traded Almonte to the Cleveland Indians for Marc Rzepczynski.

On August 8, 2015, Almonte was called up from the Columbus Clippers to start in center field.

Almonte was suspended for 80 games on February 26, 2016, after testing positive for boldenone.

Almonte was injured through portions of the 2017 season with the Indians, finishing with a .233 batting average and 3 home runs.

He was designated for assignment on March 29, 2018.

In parts of three seasons with Cleveland, Almonte batted .254 with nine home runs and 56 RBIs in 187 games.

Almonte was claimed by the Kansas City Royals on April 2, 2018.

In 50 games with the Royals, be batted .179 with three home runs and nine RBIs.

On July 16, he was designated for assignment and released a few days later.

On November 6, 2018, Almonte signed a minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.