Amed Rosario: Former Mets Short Stop (2017-2019)
The six-foot two short stop was signed by the New York Mets in July 2012 for $1.75 million, the largest international signing bonus ever given out by the Mets. Rosario was considered an outstanding defensive short stop, fleet footed, with wide range & a strong arm. He has the potential to hit .300 with some power & walks.
In 2013 at age 17, he began his career with the Kingsport Mets going to Savannah & then the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2014. He hit .289 in Brooklyn playing great defense.
In 2015 he began the year with A ball St. Lucie where he played the most games of his career with a single team (103). At the end of the season he was promoted to AA Binghamton for two games.
In 2016 he got to play in the Future's Game at San Diego on the World Team. Rosario started out back with A ball St. Lucie batting .309 with 40 RBIs, 13 steals & a .357 on base % in 66 games. He spent the latter part of the year at up at AA Binghamton where he batted a career best .341 with a .392 on base % in 54 games. Overall, he stole 19 bases getting caught just eight times, he increased his walks, showed a bit more power (5 HRs) but did increase his strike out totals. Rosario was developing to everything the Mets hoped he'd be- their short stop of the future.
He became the Mets top prospect and jumped to #3 on MLB's top prospect list.
After the 2016 season ended, he was promoted to the Mets 40-man roster & got a Spring Training invite in 2017.
During the 2016-2017 off season the Mets got many teams asking his availability in trades, but GM Sandy Alderson made it clear he is not available. Rosario was the cover boy of Baseball America's magazine January 2017 edition. Quotes- Sandy Alderson: "He can be an outstanding player, I think that is why he is considered our No. 1 prospect, at a premium position. And I think it's going to be exciting to see him in spring training."
Quotes Amed Rosario: "I got to do a lot of development. Just based off that, I would call it an excellent year. It didn’t seem like any big adjustment.”
Rosario began the 2017 season at AAA Las Vegas, there in 94 games he batted .328 with 129 hits 19 doubles 7 triples 7 HRs 58 RBIs 19 stolen bases & a .367 on base % while playing a superior short stop.
In the dismal 2017 New York Mets season, where injuries & bad play decimated the team, it was only a matter of time for Rosario to be brought up. Mets Career: Mets short stop Asdrubal Cabrera was moved out of the short stop position & didn't like moving from the short stop position & asked for a trade before turning his thoughts around when it finally hit him no other team wanted him at short either.
Overall Cabrera & Jose Reyes, Rosario's hero growing up would help in his big-league transition.
Amed Rosario made his MLB debut on August 1st in a 5-2 Mets loss at Coors Field in Colorado. In his fourth at bat that night, he collected his first career hit. In his next game he collected his first RBI with his first career triple. He then hit another triple the next night, starting out his career with a four game hit streak.
He found himself batting .161 until a three-hit night on August 11th, got his average up to .229. In that game he hit his first career HR, coming off Hector Neris. His second HR came in the debacle of a subway series on August 15th.
At the end of August, he enjoyed a small six game hit streak, where he had two multi-hit games with another HR. On August 20th, Rosario's botched ground ball help cost the Mets a 6-4 loss to the Marlins at Citi. After his 7th inning error on a routine grounder led to a Dee Gordon it, bring up MLB HR leader Giancarlo Stanton with two men on. Of course Stanton connected for a three run HR.
In September he hit no HRs & drove in just two runs while stealing two bases. He had four multi-hit games highlighted by a three-hit day at Wrigley Field on September 13th.
On September 17th he was hospitalized in Miami with a violent stomach flu, it was the second time that season he had to be hospitalized for stomach issues. He ended 2017 playing in 46 games batting .248 with 4 HRs 4 triples 4 doubles 7 stolen bases 10 RBIs & a .371 on base %. At short he made six errors turned 22 double plays with a .965 fielding %.
In 2018 he was the Mets main short stop, playing in 146 games there, not impressing as much as we'd hoped. He posted a .969 fielding %, turning 58 double plays while making 16 errors (third in the NL)
He opened the year with two hits & two runs driven in, in he Mets Opening Day win over the Cards. In the Mets hot 10-1 start he drove in six runs. On May 20th, he had a rare power day hitting two solo HRs in a 4-1 Mets win over the Arizona D-backs at Citi Field. Five days later he homered again.On August 16th, he had a four hit, three RBI day in the Mets 24-4 clobbering of the Phillies, in the first game of a double header in Philadelphia.
He had 14 RBIs in the month of August & would bat .280 in the last two months of the season, as the whole team played well. On September 12th he had another three RBI day, with a three run HR against the Marlins in Miami. Rosario batted .256 with 142 hits, 26 doubles 8 triples (4th most in the NL) with 76 runs scored. He hit 9 HRs, five coming in the final two months of the season, with 51 RBIs posting a .295 on base % while stealing 24 bases (7th in the NL).
He was thrown out 11 times, third most in the league. He shared the lead off spot with Brandon Nimmo who had a much better year.
2019 Season: Rosario was the Mets Opening Day short stop, batting in the seventh position. He got his first hit of the year & started out with a seven game hit streak. He also drove in runs in four straight games from March 31st to April 3rd. On April 11th, he hit a two run HR & drove in four runs in a 6-3 win at Atlanta.
On May 10th, he drove in four more runs hitting his third HR of the season.
On May 21st, he had his first walk off hit, a single off the Nationals, Kyle Barraclough. On June 5th he hit a three HR to help the Mets in their 7-0 win over the Giants. He would HR again the next day in a 7-3 Met win.In the first half of the season he batted .260 & the Mets were in fourth place 13.5 games back.
But Rosario showed much improvement in the second half, batting .319, helping the Mets to go 46-26 in their 86 win season & make a run for a wild card playoff spot. Although he walked less he also struck out much less.
In July the Mets got his & Rosario contributed as well. He would hit safely in 16 of 20 games. On July 17th he had four hits, scored four runs, hit a HR & drove in three in the Mets 14-4 blow out of the Marlins. He would have another four hit night on July 30th.In August he collected 40 hits in the month, with nine multi hit games, getting his average up to over .290.
On August 14th, he had a four hit day in a losing effort in Atlanta. The next day he had five hits, including a pair of doubles, scoring four runs & driving in a run in the 10-8 Mets win. On August 18th, he had a three RBI game in a win over the KC Royals.
In mid September he drove in two runs & scored two runs in Colorado in a 6-1 Mets win. On September 20th, he drove in two more in an 8-1 win at Cincinatti. On September 23rd, he hit a grand slam at Citi Field, in an 8-4 Mets win over the Marlins.
Rosario put in his best year to date with the bat. He had 177 hits (5th in the NL) leading the league in singles with 125.
His 616 at bats were 6th most in the NL & he played the third most games at short stop (152).
Rosario batted .287 with 15 HRs 30 doubles (tied for 2nd on the team) 7 triples (4th most in the NL) scored 75 runs & drove in 72. He stole a team leading 19 bases but was thrown out ten times, most in the league. He walked 31 times posting a .323 on base %.
At short he posted a .969 fielding 5 making 17 errors (3rd most in the NL) & although he showed signs of improvement, he needs to do better.
2020: In the Covid 19- shortened 2020 season. Rosario would play in 46 games. He batted .252 with 1 HR 3 doubles 15 RBIs & a horrible .272 on base %.
Marlins.
Walk Off HR: On August 28th, in the second game of a subway series double header, he hit a walk off two run HR off Aroldis Chapman, for the Mets win.
In another subway matchup in September, he had a three hit three RBI game, in the Mets 9-7 win.
Blockbuster Trade: On January 7th, 2021, Rosario along with Andres Gimenez, Josh Wolf & Isaiah Greene were traded to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Francisco Lindor & Carlos Carrasco.
In his first season Cleveland Rosario hit .282 his first year with 11 HRs 25 doubles 6 triples 77 runs scored & 57 RBIs. The team finished second winning 80 games. It was the final season they called themselves the Indians, after 106 years the Cleveland Indians became the Cleveland Guardians.
At short stop Rosario played in 153 games, leading the AL with 9 triples & 133 singles. He batted .283 hit 11 HRs with 26 doubles & 71 RBIs. Gimenez batted .297 with 17 HRs & 69 RBIs.
In New York after miserable years in 2021, Lindor rebounded but certainly wasn't the super star he was supposed to be & Carrasco was a 15-game winner. The Mets rolled along winning 101 games but fell apart in the end, they were eliminated in the wild card round.
2022 ALDS: In the ALDS, Rosario homered off Nestor Cortes in Game #2 helping the Indians to a 4-2 victory. In the 9th inning of Game #3 with Cleveland down 5-3, Rosario singled off Clarke Schmidt to drive in a run.
He scored the tying run on Oscar Gonzales walk off single as Jose Ramirez scored right behind Rosario for the exciting win. Unfortunately, their luck ran out as they lost the next two games.
Career Stats: In his seven-year career he has batted .272 with 865 hits 139 doubles 43 triples 60 HRs 420 runs scored & 334 RBIs. He posted a .308 on base % & .708 OPS.
In 752 games at short stop he has a .971 fielding% making 75 errors in 2604 chances turning 320 double plays. He has also played at second (36 games) & in the outfield (25 games).
Family: Rosario's sister is married to MLB player Will Castro.