Danny Figueroa

From BR Bullpen

Daniel Figueroa Rayneri

BR minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Danny Figueroa played in the minor leagues from 2006 to 2011. He is the twin brother of Paco Figueroa.

Figueroa was picked by the Atlanta Braves in the 48th round of the 2001 amateur draft but did not sign. He batted .300/.397/.326 and stole 16 bases as a freshman for a top-25 team. He hit .325/.457/.407 in 2003 and swiped 40 bases as Miami finished 8th in NCAA Division I. He tied for 5th in NCAA Division I in stolen bases while only being caught five times. In 2004, Figueroa was redshirted. The Oakland Athletics still took him in the 40th round of the 2004 amateur draft. He hit .319/.457/.464 as a junior, stole 25 bases and scored 70 runs for the #15 team in the country. The Orioles selected him in the 43rd round of the 2005 amateur draft, 34 rounds after picking his brother.

Figueroa debuted professionally in 2006 with the Aberdeen Ironbirds (.202/.322/.283 in 26 games) and Delmarva Shorebirds (.278/.409/.333 in 7 games). In 2007, he hit .278/.398/.338 for Delmarva with 35 steals in 46 tries. He was 7th in the South Atlantic League in steals and OBP. He hit .319 in 78 games for the Bowie Baysox in 2009.

Figueroa played for the Spanish national team in the 2007 European Championship, hitting .480/.632/.720 to lead Spain to a Bronze Medal. He stole 5 bases in 7 tries, drew 10 walks and scored 13 runs in 8 games. He finished third in the final round in OBP (.600), first with 9 walks and second with 9 runs (trailing Roger Bernadina). He then was with the team for the 2007 Baseball World Cup, hitting only .217/.296/.304 as their starting center fielder.

Figueroa batted .200/.407/.350 as Spain's center fielder in the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament. Two positives were his 7 walks and two outfield assists in 7 games. His two runs tied for the team lead.


Sources: 2003-2007 Baseball Almanacs, The Baseball Cube, Mister Baseball site for European baseball news, 2007 Orioles Media Guide, IBAF site