Dionys César

Dionys Alejandro César Alvarez

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 194 lb.

• Born September 27, 1976 in Yamasa Dominican Republic

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Dionys César hit over .300 in 16 minor league seasons from 1994-2009, over half that time in AAA, but never was called up to the majors.

César debuted in 1994 with the DSL Athletics, hitting .275/.347/.347. In '95, he batted .322/.404/.468 with 41 runs in 48 games for the AZL Athletics. He was 6th in the Arizona League in average and was named the All-Star 2B. He was one run shy of the league lead.

The young Dominican spent 1996 with the Modesto A's (.200/.284/.233 in 22 G) and Southern Oregon Timberjacks (.271/.344/.360 in 52 G, 18 SB, 6 CS). In '97, Cesar continued his struggles, hitting just .239/.340/.319 for the Visalia Oaks and being gunned down in 12 of 22 steal attempts. He rebounded in a second go-around with Visalia in 1998, improving his batting line to .281/.353/.423 and his steal rate to 72.1% (31 for 43). He had 34 doubles, 8 triples and 87 runs. He also showed versatility afield, playing second, short, third and the outfield.

In 1999, César did well with Visalia (.322/.398/.484 in 77 G) but poorly with the Midland Rockhounds (.190/.312/.371 in 35 G). For the year, he had 8 triples, 74 runs, 77 RBI and 22 steals (in 37 tries). His 7th minor league campaign was spent almost entirely with Midland, where he solved AA much better than the prior year, batting .277/.333/.363 in a utility role.

The Yamasa native moved to the Milwaukee Brewers organization in 2001, which he split between the Huntsville Stars (.282/.350/.449 in 60 G) and the Indianapolis Indians (.310/.368/.434 in 35 G in his AAA debut). In '02, he hit .257/.301/.353 in his first full year at AAA. He held down a starting role at 2B instead of his utility time of the prior few years.

César split 2003 between the Cincinnati Reds' Chattanooga Lookouts (.413/.460/.500 in 13 G), the Montreal Expos' Edmonton Trappers (.304/.355/.411 in 21 G) and the Veracruz Eagle (.330). Back with Chattanooga in 2004, he hit .297/.348/.467 in 49 games but he struggled with the Louisville Bats (10 for 54, 4 2B, 4 BB). Moving on to the Chicago White Sox organization, he hit .300/.345/.388 in 28 contests for the Charlotte Knights.

César moved back to the Mexican League in 2005 and batted .300/.360/.465 with 31 steals in 38 tries for the Monterrey Sultans. He also made an appearance with Taiwan's Chinatrust Whales, hitting .307/.342/.395 in 28 games.

In '06, he hit .370/.426/.514 with 31 doubles, 87 runs, 72 RBI and 42 swipes (in 54 attempts) for Monterrey. He tied Luis Arredondo for 5th in the Mexican League in average, was 4th in runs (5 behind leader Mendy Lopez), led in steals (9 over Chad Meyers) and tied for 6th in doubles.

Dionys split 2007 between the Sultans (.282/.368/.408 in 25 G), the Long Island Ducks (.355/.408/.441 in 25 G) and the Lancaster Barnstormers (.314/.360/.414 in 19 G). In '08, the 15-year veteran put up a line of .330/.412/.487 for the Vaqueros Laguna with 34 doubles and 94 runs. He also played briefly with the Yuma Bullfrogs, batting .288/.379/.493 in 19 contests. He was second in the Mexican League in runs, two behind Donzell McDonald, and paced the league in two-baggers.

Not one to slow down in his old (for a ballplayer) age, Cesar was even better in 2009, batting .380/.456/.523 for the Vaqueros with 92 runs, 36 doubles and 40 steals in 50 tries. He led the league in average (.002 over Edgar Quintero), was tied for 5th in OBP (with Fernando Alejos), led in steals (9 over Arredondo), tied Quintero for the lead in doubles and was second in runs (one behind Eduardo Arredondo). He was named the MVP of the Mexican League.

César signed a $250,000 deal with a $50,000 bonus for 2010 with the Chunichi Dragons of Japan, ready to add that country to Taiwan, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the USA and Canada to his baseball travels. He debuted on Opening Day, March 26, hitting second and playing second base. He went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts against Kenta Maeda before leaving for a pinch-hitter.

Sources

• Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database
• 1995 Baseball Guide
• 1996-2009 Baseball Almanacs
• Chinese Wiki Baseball
• MILB.com
• Japanball.com
• KT Choi's Taiwanese baseball database