Omir Santos

A professional baseball player from Puerto Rico, Omir Santos Rios plays as a catcher. Born in Puerto Rico, Santos moved to the United States of America for his schooling. He attended the East Central College before getting picked in the 21st round, at the 2001 MLB Draft, by the New York Yankees.

Santos came up through the farm system but never made it to the MLB roster of the Yankees. At the end of the 2007 season, The Yankees decided to grant Santos free agency and the catcher signed up with the Baltimore Orioles a month later. In 2008, injuries to the regular catching unit at the Orioles led to an earlier than expected debut for Santos.

He played 11 games for the Orioles, hitting just once during those 10 at-bats. At the beginning of the 2009 season, Santos was signed up by the New York Mets on a minor league contract.

Santos hit his first career home run with the Mets and, that too, a grand slam homer off Anibal Sanchez of the Florida Marlins. Despite being called up as a replacement, Santos really made his presence felt at the big level, making several clutch plays and ensuring that Ramon Castro, the backup catcher for the Mets, never get a chance to play ahead of him. The Mets traded Castro out to the Chicago White Sox, ensuring a place for Santos in the backup slot for Brian Schneider.

In 2009, Santos was named to the 51st annual Topps All-Star Rookie Team.

With Henry Blanco already in the squad, the new signing of Rod Barajas meant that Santos would be relegated to the AAA-League however he was invited to Spring Training where he hit a inside-the-park grand slam to give the Mets a 6-5 win over the Washington Nationals.

Santos continues to be a part of the MLB roster for 2010 but only as the third choice catcher.