Jair Fernández

Note: This page discusses minor league catcher Jair Fernandez. For the Mexican League umpire of the same name, click here.

Jair Fernández

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 170 lb.

• Born December 10, 1986 in Cartagena, Colombia

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Catcher Jair Fernández was signed by the Seattle Mariners as a 16 year old in 2003. He hit .304/.396/.400 in the 2004 Venezuelan Summer League then .250/.354/.304 back with the VSL Mariners in 2005.

He came to the United States in 2006. He began that season with the Inland Empire 66ers but got just 2 hits in 27 at-bats before being sent to the Everett Aqua Sox. Aside from appearing in one game with the AAA Tacoma Rainiers, he spent the remainder of the year with the Aqua Sox, hitting .230/.333/.319 in 43 games. He led the Northwest League wiith 48% of opposing base-runners caught stealing but also with 13 passed balls. The next summer, he played for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and hit .260/.343/.377 in 52 games despite missing time with a finger injury and a sprained ankle.

Prior to the 2008 season, Fernández was traded to the Minnesota Twins for R.A. Dickey, and he spent that year with the Beloit Snappers, for whom he hit .283/.333/.370 in 36 games. The next summer, he played for the Fort Myers Miracle, hitting .224/.301/.325 with a career-high 4 home runs in 84 games. He began the 2010 season back with Fort Myers.

Fernandez became a coach and manager in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system after the conclusion of his playing career. He may have coached the Dodgers' Dominican Summer League teams in 2015-2016, but this could not be confirmed. Fernandez was a hitting coach for the Great Lakes Loons in 2017-2018. He was promoted to manager of the AZL Dodgers Mota in 2019 and was expected to return there in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the minor league season. In 2021 he managed the DSL Dodgers 1 followed by the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League. Fernandez managed the ACL Dodgers in 2022-2023 and Great Lakes Loons in 2024.

Fernandez also has extensive experience coaching in Colombia. He took over as manager of Leones de Monteria in the Colombian League on December 16, 2016. He returned to manage the team in 2017/2018 and began the 2018/2019 season in the same role until his dismissal on November 18th. A few weeks later he took over as manager of Tigres de Cartagena through the end of the season.

In addition to his winter league managing, Fernandez also coached for the national team. He coached for Team Colombia in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, when they won a spot in the World Baseball Classic for the first time. He managed Colombia to a Gold in the 2017 Bolivarian Games, their first Gold in baseball in a Bolivarian Games since 1973. More recently, Fernandez was the third base coach for Colombia in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Year-By-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2019	AZL Dodgers Mota	Arizona League	33-23	5th (t)	Los Angeles Dodgers	Lost in 1st Round
2021	DSL Dodgers 1	Dominican Summer League	29-28	21st	Los Angeles Dodgers
2022	ACL Dodgers	Arizona Complex League	25-29	11th (t)	Los Angeles Dodgers
2023	ACL Dodgers	Arizona Complex League	34-22	3rd	Los Angeles Dodgers	Lost in 1st Round
2024	Great Lakes Loons	Midwest League	69-61	4th	Los Angeles Dodgers

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