Armando Benitez

Full Name: Armando German Benitez	Primary Position: P
Height/Weight: 6' 4"/180	First Game: July 28, 1994
Birthdate: November 3, 1972	MLB Experience: 13 years
Birthplace: Ramon Santana, Macoris (Dominican Republic)
Bat/Throw: Right/Right

Biography[]

Armando Germán Benítez [beh-NEE-tez] (born November 3, 1972) in Ramón Santana, Dominican Republic), is a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants. He is known for his lively fastball, which occasionally reaches 100 MPH, and his crafty splitter.

Benítez was signed in 1990 by the Baltimore Orioles as a free agent. Coming up through the Orioles' farm system, he made his debut in 1994. While with the Orioles, he initially struggled, collecting a 5.66 ERA in 1995 and faltering in the postseason frequently. [1] Nevertheless, he started to show some of his future potential in 1998, earning a 3.82 ERA and 22 saves in 71 games.

Before the 1999 season, Benítez was traded to the New York Mets for Charles Johnson. During his first four seasons in New York, he became one of the Major Leagues' elite closers, saving 139 games. Unfortunately, he is not known to be a clutch player and blew his first World Series save opportunity. Regardless, several playoff contenders were in demand for his services. Midway through 2003, Benítez was traded to the New York Yankees, who intended to use him as a setup man for Mariano Rivera. Benítez had a 1.93 ERA in nine games before being traded again to the Seattle Mariners, where he finished the season.

In 2004, Benítez once again became a closer, taking a pay cut to join the Florida Marlins for one year. His season with the Marlins ended up being his best season to date; he saved 47 games in 51 chances and compiled a 1.29 ERA. In fact, after giving up a solo home run in his first game of the season, he did not allow another earned run until June 5, after an impressive streak of 30 scoreless innings. [2] After the season, Benítez elected to become a free agent, signing a three-year contract with the San Francisco Giants that was worth a reported US$21 million.

Scouting Report[]

Armando Benitez. What is there to say about him? Well, Benitez had the amazing ability to take a comfortable 3 run lead and turn it into a loss. Dominant when he wanted to be, it seemed that in the vast majority of high pressure situations he was just waiting to serve that meat pitch that could be hammered over the right field wall.

Statistics[]

Pitching Stats[]

Year	Team		G	W	L	ERA	K	R	ER	SV	IP	H	HR	BB	IB	WP	HBP
1994	BAL	A	3	0	0	.90	14	1	1	0	10	8	0	4	0	0	1
1995	BAL	A	44	1	5	5.66	56	33	30	2	47.2	37	8	37	2	3	5
1996	BAL	A	18	1	0	3.77	20	6	6	4	14.1	7	2	6	0	1	0
1997	BAL	A	71	4	5	2.45	106	22	20	9	73.1	49	7	43	5	1	1
1998	BAL	A	71	5	6	3.82	87	29	29	22	68.1	48	10	39	2	0	4
1999	NY	N	77	4	3	1.85	128	18	16	22	78	40	4	41	4	2	0
2000	NY	N	76	4	4	2.61	106	24	22	41	76	39	10	38	2	0	0
2001	NY	N	73	6	4	3.77	93	32	32	43	76.1	59	12	40	6	5	1
2002	NY	N	62	1	0	2.27	79	20	17	33	67.1	46	8	25	0	1	3
2003	SEA	A	15	0	0	3.14	15	5	5	0	14.1	10	1	11	1	0	0
2003	NY	N	45	3	3	3.10	50	18	17	21	49.1	41	5	24	1	3	0
2003	NY	A	9	1	1	1.93	10	4	2	0	9.1	8	0	6	1	0	0
2003	Total		69	4	4	2.96	75	27	24	21	73	59	6	41	3	3	0
2003	TOT	A	24	1	1	2.66	25	9	7	0	23.2	18	1	17	2	0	0
2004	FLA	N	64	2	2	1.29	62	11	10	47	69.2	36	6	21	4	0	0
2005	SF	N	30	2	3	4.50	23	17	15	19	30	25	5	16	0	0	0
2006	SF	N	41	4	2	3.52	31	15	15	17	38.1	39	6	21	2	1	0
Total	NL		468	26	21	2.67	572	155	144	243	485	325	56	226	19	12	4
Total	AL		231	12	17	3.53	308	100	93	37	237.1	167	28	146	11	5	11
Total			699	38	38	2.95	880	255	237	280	722.1	492	84	372	30	17	15

Fielding Stats[]

Year	Team		POS	G	INN	PO	A	ERR	DP	PB	SB	CS	PkO	AVG
1994	BAL	A	P	3	10	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.000
1995	BAL	A	P	44	47.2	1	0	1	1	0	5	0	0	.500
1996	BAL	A	P	18	14.1	1	1	1	0	0	2	0	0	.667
1997	BAL	A	P	71	73.1	1	3	0	0	0	20	2	0	1.000
1998	BAL	A	P	71	68.1	3	5	0	0	0	8	1	0	1.000
1999	NY	N	P	77	78	2	6	0	0	1	12	0	0	1.000
2000	NY	N	P	76	76	2	2	0	0	0	9	2	1	1.000
2001	NY	N	P	73	76.1	4	4	0	0	1	11	1	0	1.000
2002	NY	N	P	62	67.1	2	8	2	0	1	7	1	1	.833
2003	SEA	A	P	15	14.1	2	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	1.000
2003	NY	N	P	45	49.1	3	1	0	0	0	6	0	0	1.000
2003	NY	A	P	9	9.1	1	0	0	0	1	2	1	0	1.000
2003	Total		P	69	73	6	1	0	0	2	10	1	0	1.000
2003	TOT	A	P	24	23.2	3	0	0	0	2	4	1	0	1.000
2004	FLA	N	P	64	69.2	4	3	1	0	0	9	0	0	.875
2005	SF	N	P	30	30	2	2	1	0	0	1	2	0	.800
2006	SF	N	P	41	38.1	1	2	0	0	0	6	0	0	1.000
Total			P	699	722.1	29	38	6	1	5	100	11	2	.918

Batting Stats[]

Year	Team		G	AB	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	SO
1994	BAL	A	3	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0
1995	BAL	A	44	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0
1996	BAL	A	18	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0
1997	BAL	A	71	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0
1998	BAL	A	71	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0
1999	NY	N	77	5	1	.000	.000	.000	2
2000	NY	N	76	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0
2001	NY	N	73	1	1	.000	.000	.000	0
2002	NY	N	62	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0
2003	SEA	A	15	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0
2003	NY	N	45	1	0	.000	.000	.000	1
2003	NY	A	9	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0
2003	Total		69	1	0	.000	.000	.000	1
2003	TOT	A	24	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0
2004	FLA	N	64	1	0	.000	.000	.000	1
2005	SF	N	30	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0
2006	SF	N	41	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0
Total	NL		468	8	2	.000	.000	.000	4
Total	AL		231	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0
Total			699	8	2	.000	.000	.000	4

Transactions[]

Signed as a non-drafted free agent by Baltimore Orioles (April 1, 1990).
Traded by Baltimore Orioles to New York Mets in exchange for Charles Johnson (December 1, 1998).
Traded by New York Mets to New York Yankees in exchange for Jason Anderson, Ryan Bicondoa and Anderson Garcia (July 16, 2003).
Traded by New York Yankees to Seattle Mariners in exchange for Jeff Nelson (August 6, 2003).
Granted free agency (October 27, 2003).
Signed by Florida Marlins (January 6, 2004).
Granted free agency (October 28, 2004).
Signed by San Francisco Giants (December 2, 2004).

Armando Benitez

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