| Ronny Cedeño | |
|---|---|
.JPG) | |
| Shortstop | |
| Born: (1983-02-02)February 2, 1983 (age 42) Puerto Cabello,Venezuela | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 23, 2005, for the Chicago Cubs | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 28, 2014, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .245 |
| Home runs | 40 |
| Runs batted in | 239 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
Ronny Alexander Salazar Cedeño (born February 2, 1983), is aVenezuelan former professionalbaseballshortstop, who played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theChicago Cubs,Seattle Mariners,Pittsburgh Pirates,New York Mets,Houston Astros,San Diego Padres, andPhiladelphia Phillies. Cedeño batted and threwright-handed.
Cedeño spent his five-seasonminor league career playing in the Cubs' farm system, reaching the Double-A level in2004 with theDiamond Jaxx. In 116 games, he posted a .279batting average with sixhome runs and 48RBI. He was selected as a midseasonSouthern League All-Star.
Cedeño was called up in April,2005, to replaceNomar Garciaparra on the Cubs' roster. He made big-league debut for theChicago Cubs on April 23 but spent most of his time on the bench, asNeifi Pérez was awarded the starting job. After the Cubs signedEnrique Wilson, Cedeño was sent back down to theTriple-AIowa Cubs. In 65 games at Iowa in 2005, Cedeño batted an impressive .355, andslugged over .500 for the first time in his professional career. He returned to the Cubs in June after Wilson was himself sent down to Iowa.
Cedeño became the team's starting shortstop in2006. He played in 151 games, hit .245, and had 25 errors. In 2006, hewalked only 3.1% of the time, the lowest percentage in theNational League, and 4 of his 17 walks were intentional walks. He also had the Major League's worst walk/strikeout ratio—0.16.[1]
He played in the 2006 winter league forVenezuela, and averaged .555 in 45 games with 25 runs and 28 RBI.
Cedeño began2007 with the Major League club on the bench, as the Cubs were set at shortstop andsecond base withCésar Izturis andMark DeRosa. His offensive struggles continued, batting .118 at the big league level through August, and he spent several more months inTriple-A Iowa.
When the Cubs traded their startingcenter fielderJacque Jones in November 2007, general managerJim Hendry indicated that the club wasn't necessarily looking outside for a veteran, with Cedeño as well asFélix Pie andSam Fuld in the mix. Cedeño was asked to play some center field during the winter.[2]
In2008, Cedeño made the Major League club out ofspring training and spent the entire season with the Cubs, playing primarily off the bench asReed Johnson and laterJim Edmonds were signed to play center field andRyan Theriot was ensconced at shortstop. As the season progressed, he saw more opportunities to start at second base and shortstop, and got many opportunities off the bench as apinch hitter and defensive replacement. He ended the year hitting .269 with 41 strikeouts in 216 at-bats, making 31 starts at second and 20 at shortstop.
On January 28, 2009, Cedeño was traded withGarrett Olson to the Seattle Mariners forAaron Heilman.[3] Cedeño replacedYuniesky Betancourt as startingshortstop for theSeattle Mariners after Betancourt was put on the DL and later traded to theKansas City Royals. Cedeño made 39 starts at shortstop for Seattle, as well as a handful of starts at second, left field, and third base. He batted .167 in 206 plate appearances with Seattle.
On July 29, 2009, Cedeño was traded withJeff Clement, Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin, andNathan Adcock to thePittsburgh Pirates forJack Wilson andIan Snell.[4] He started 42 games at shortstop and batted .258 for Pittsburgh on the year.
Cedeño finished 2009 with 8 doubles, 3 triples, and a career high 10 home runs. He also drove in 38 runs, was issued a then-career high 19 walks, 3 of them intentional, struck out 79 times, and stole 5 bases, to go along with a .208 average, a .256 on-base percentage, a .337 slugging percentage, in 341 at-bats split between Seattle and Pittsburgh.
Cedeño was the Pirates Opening Day shortstop in2010 and he made 132 starts on the year. He was briefly benched by managerJohn Russell in June as he struggled with consistency.[5] He finished with a batting line of .256/.293/.382 and 18 errors in the field.
Although the Pirates pursued other shortstops during the off-season as there were questions about Cedeño's focus, he returned as the Opening Day starter in2011.[6] Cedeño made 118 starts at shortstop on the year with a brief trip to the disabled list in July with a concussion.[7] He batted .249/.297/.339 with 13 errors. At the end of the season, the Pirates decided not to pick up Cedeño's $3 million option and signedClint Barmes to play shortstop.[8]
On January 6, 2012, Cedeño signed with theNew York Mets for a one-year contract worth $1.2 million.[9] Cedeño served as a reserve infielder, taking over briefly at shortstop whenRubén Tejada was lost to an injury in May. He played in a total of 78 games for the Mets, making 42 starts between second, short, and third, and committing just 4 errors. He surpassed offensive expectations by batting .259 with 4 home runs and a .741OPS in 186 plate appearances.[10]
On January 28, 2013, Ronny Cedeño signed a one-year contract with theSt. Louis Cardinals. The deal was reported to be for a base salary of $1.15 million with incentives that could have increased to $2 million.[11] However, the Cardinals released him on March 19 when they made the decision to give the starting shortstop job toPete Kozma.[12]
On March 23, 2013, Cedeño agreed to a deal with theHouston Astros.[13] He andMarwin González split time at shortstop, with Cedeño batting .220 with a .558 OPS in 155 plate appearances and making 11 errors in 37 starts. He was designated for assignment on July 22, 2013, and was released on July 28, as the Astros called up prospectJonathan Villar.[14]
On August 3, 2013, Cedeño agreed to a minor league contract with theSan Diego Padres, in case starting shortstopEverth Cabrera was suspended in theBiogenesis scandal. He was assigned to their High-A affiliate, theLake Elsinore Storm.[15] After Cabrera was suspended, the Padres promoted Cedeño to the major leagues on August 6.[16] He served as the Padres primary shortstop until he was hit in the head by aHeath Bell pitch on September 23.[17] Although Cedeño never lost consciousness, he sat out the last week of the season with concussion-like symptoms.[18] He made 34 starts at short for the Padres, making 2 errors and hitting .268 with 2 homers and a .684 OPS.
On January 13, 2014, Cedeño signed a minor league contract with an invitation tospring training to play for thePhiladelphia Phillies.[19] He was released on March 25 and re-signed on April 2. He was outrighted off the roster on June 28, 2014.
On June 29, 2014, the Phillies traded Cedeño to theArizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Raywilly Gomez. On October 11 he refused his minor league assignment and became a free agent.[20]
Cedeño signed a minor league contract with theSan Francisco Giants in February 2015. On February 24, 2015 he was assigned to AAASacramento River Cats,[21] but was released July 8.
On July 15, 2015, Cedeño signed with theGuerreros de Oaxaca of theMexican League. He became a free agent following the season. In 20 games he struggled hitting .217/.276/.333 with 2 home runs and 7 RBIs.
Cedeño spent the 2016 season withUnipol Bologna of theItalian Baseball League.[22] In 28 games he hit .358/.414/.517 with 3 home runs and 23 RBIs.
On April 18, 2017, Cedeño signed with theOlmecas de Tabasco of theMexican League. He was released on April 21, without appearing in a game.
Cedeño spent 2016–20 withNavegantes del Magallanes of theVenezuelan Professional Baseball League and the 2020–21 season withLeones del Caracas.[23]
