Arthur Rhodes, Jr.

Arthur Lee Rhodes, Jr. is a professional American baseball player who specializes as a relief pitcher. Rhodes began his professional career with the Baltimore Orioles in 1987. He played through the minor leagues to get his MLB break in 1991 and for the next 9 seasons, was part of the MLB roster with the Orioles. After 12 years with the Orioles, Rhodes was released and as a free agent, he signed up with the Seattle Mariners.

Rhodes spent the next four years with the Mariners before leaving in 2004 to join the Oakland Athletics. At the Athletics, he was tried out as a closer but Rhodes was not strong enough to hold that position and the following year, along with Mark Redman, the Athletics traded him out to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Jason Kendall. As soon as Rhodes arrived in Pittsburgh in the off-season, he was sent on his way again, this time to the Cleveland Indians. Rhodes took no time in becoming their primary choice for the setup man and after a strong season, the Phillies swooped in on Rhodes and gave the Indians Jason Michaels in exchange.

As he grew stronger in his performances, Rhodes was back in demand at Seattle and they decided to offer him a minor league contract with an invite for their Spring Training. Rhodes got into the 40-man roster with a strong Spring Training session but soon after, he was forced to undergo the Tommy John surgery and that meant that his 2007 was coming to a premature end. The Mariners decided to release him at the end of the season but in January 2008, they came back for him and signed him up for a minor league team. Again invited for spring training, the Mariners were expecting a similar outcome but Rhodes failed to live up to the challenge.

Despite the initial setback, he was called to the Major League roster in April. A few months later, he was traded out to the Florida Marlins in exchange for Gaby Hernandez. In the December of 2008, Rhodes decided to move to the Cincinnati Reds after signing a 2-year deal.