Yonder Alonso

Yonder Alonso is a former first baseman of professional Cuban baseball and current MLB Network analyst. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies. Before entering the major leagues, he played college baseball at the University of Miami.

Yonder plays right field but bats left-handed.

A native of Havana, Cuba. His father played and coached for Industriales in Cuba's National Series, and also taught Yonder how to play. The family left Cuba in 1996 and settled in Miami, where Yonder played on a minor league team financed by José Canseco.

Alonso attended Coral Gables High School in Coral Gables, Florida. At the University of Miami, he studied Criminology. There he played baseball for three seasons and became a standout. He was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 16th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft. He did not sign, instead choosing to attend college at the University of Miami.

Due to Alonso's results with the Miami Hurricanes, the Minnesota Twins showed interest in him starting in 2005, but he preferred to begin his professional sports career after finishing his studies.

Alonso attended the University of Miami, where he played three seasons for the Hurricanes. He led the team to the College World Series as a freshman, with a team leading 69 runs batted in. His sister attended the same school and was a member of the cheerleading team.

Yonder's story was not easy. In addition to attending college and playing baseball, he had to clean offices and warehouses with his parents. In turn, he trained children ages 11 and 12 in secret in the Hurricanes' batting cages, all in search of money.

In his sophomore year, he batted .376, led the Atlantic Coast Conference with 18 home runs, scored 74 runs and drove in 57. He also placed second in the ACC with an on-base percentage of .519 and a slugging percentage of .705. Alonso went to the Shenandoah Valley League, located in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, in 2007 and to the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2008 to play for the Brewster Whitecaps.

In 2008, he batted .373 with 15 home runs, 51 runs batted in and eight stolen bases.

Yonder was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame at its fiftieth annual induction in April 2018.

Professional Career

Cincinnati Reds
In 2008, Alonso was selected for the second time with the seventh overall selection by the Cincinnati Reds. He signed a Major League contract with the Reds worth $4.55 million through 2012.

Alonso made his minor league debut on August 26, 2008 for the Class A Sarasota Reds against the Clearwater Threshers. He went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk. In just six games for the A-Advanced Reds that year, he went 19 for 19 with two runs batted in.

After the 2008 season, he joined the Waikiki BeachBoys of Hawaii's winter baseball league and batted .308 with four home runs and 21 runs batted in 29 games. He had 32 hits in 104 at-bats.

Alonso entered the 2009 season ranked as the number one prospect in the Reds organization by Baseball America. He began the season with Sarasota, playing 49 games and batting .303 in 175 at-bats with seven home runs, 13 doubles and 38 runs batted in. After receiving a promotion to Class AA Carolina, he batted .295 in 105 at-bats, with 11 doubles, two home runs and 14 runs batted in 29 games. He also played for the Peoria Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League in 2009, batting .267 in 23 games.

Alonso began 2010 in Carolina playing in left field, as Joey Votto blocked him at first base in Cincinnati. In May, Alonso was promoted to the Louisville Bats Triple-A, where he played 82 of his 101 games at first base, batting .296 with 12 home runs. Alonso was called up by the Reds on September 1 as the rosters expanded. He made his major league debut that day, batting as a pinch hitter for Brandon Phillips. On September 4, 2010, in his second at-bat as a pinch hitter, Alonso doubled off St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Mike MacDougal for his first major league hit, and scored his first major league run in that inning.

Alonso began the 2011 season in Triple-A, playing most of his games in left field and batting .296. On July 26, 2011, Alonso was called up to the Cincinnati Reds after they traded away Johnny Gomes. He served primarily as a pinch hitter, getting 98 plate appearances in 47 games and batting .330 with an OPS of .943. Alonso made 14 starts in left field and one at first and third base. Alonso was projected as the Reds' left fielder in 2012, although he struggled defensively at the position during 2011.

San Diego Padres
Alonso, Edinson Vólquez, Yasmani Grandal and Brad Boxberger were traded to the San Diego Padres for Mat Latos on December 17, 2011. He was projected to begin at first base ahead of Anthony Rizzo, who was eventually traded away. Alonso arrived in 2012 still classified as a rookie with only 117 at-bats in his career.

Alonso played 155 games for the Padres in 2012, including 144 starts at first base, and recorded a batting line of .273/.348/.393 with 9 home runs. He set a Padres franchise record with 39 doubles as a rookie, breaking the previous rookie record of 33 set by Benito Santiago in 1987. Alonso also had 10 multi-double games, the most in the Major Leagues since 2006. Alonso committed 12 errors at first base, tying for the league lead. He finished sixth in National League Rookie of the Year voting.

Alonso was the starting first baseman to begin 2013. On April 10, Alonso started at first base against the Dodgers. In the ninth inning, with second baseman Alexi Amarista having been pinch hit in the previous inning, Alonso moved to second base for the first time in his professional career. With left-hander Andre Ethier up after Adrián González hit a ground ball to second that Alonso could not make, Alonso and third baseman Jedd Gyorko switched positions. After Ethier was hit and two right-handed batters were ready, Alonso and Gyorko switched again, and the Padres got out of the inning after AJ Ellis hit a ground ball to third. On June 6, Alonso was placed on the 15-day injured list after a pitch from Aaron Loup hit him in the hand on May 31. Kyle Blanks and Jesús Guzmán then entered a platoon while Alonso was out. At that time, he was batting .284 with 6 HRs and 29 runs batted in. He was activated on July 12, 2013. On August 30, Alonso suffered a separate injury to his right hand, causing him to miss most of September. Blanks and Guzmán initially replaced him, but when Tommy Medica was called up, he started the rest of the season. Alonso returned to action on September 28 and appeared in 2 games as a pinch runner. In 97 games in 2013, he batted .281/.341/.368 with six home runs and 45 runs batted in.

On June 19, 2014, Alonso was placed on the 15-day injured list for right hand tendinitis. On July 26, after missing 30 games, Alonso was removed from the injured list. After playing for nearly a month, Alonso was ruled out for the season on August 17 due to a forearm strain. In 84 games in 2014, Alonso batted .240/.285/.397 with 7 home runs and 27 runs batted in.

In 2015, Alonso would spend time on the 15-day injured list, but would be activated on June 2. In 2015, Alonso batted .282 with five home runs and 31 runs batted in 103 games; he had two separate stints on the injured list due to a shoulder injury and a lower back strain.

Oakland Athletics
On December 2, 2015, the Padres traded Alonso and Marc Rzepczynski to the Oakland Athletics for Drew Pomeranz, José Torres and a player to be named later or for cash considerations (later specified as Jabari Blash). On January 13, 2016, the Athletics and Alonso announced they had agreed to a one-year contract worth $2.65 million to avoid arbitration. In 2016, Alonso batted .253/.316/.367 with 7 home runs and 56 runs batted in. Alonso avoided salary arbitration with the Athletics for a second consecutive season, by agreeing to a $4 million contract for the 2017 season on December 3, 2016.

In late 2016 he was in Havana. They interviewed him. He was asked about the possibility of participating in the World Baseball Classic representing his native country. He said these words:

"I would like to play for Cuba in the World Baseball Classic. I don't care if they pay me, or where the trophy stays; what matters to me is being able to play for my country because I know the people will enjoy it as much as I will. Maybe I couldn't even play as a regular; I'm realistic and I know there's a José Dariel Abreu, a Kendrys Morales…, people with better statistics than me. But I would be happy to be part of that group.

We Cubans who are there…. are 120 percent willing to play for the Cuban jersey. If they told me to play here, I'm ready for whatever, even if I have to pay…, the thing is to play. Who wouldn't want to put on their country's uniform?

…. I would very much like to be able to cooperate with the ballplayers here because they are my countrymen. My wife is American, but I am Cuban, from Centro Habana. I didn't go to ESPA or play in the National Series, I didn't wear Metros or Industriales, but I am and will always be Cuban."

During the first half of the 2017 season, Alonso hit a personal record of 20 home runs. He was named to the 2017 MLB All-Star Game.

Seattle Mariners
On August 6, 2017, the Athletics traded Alonso to the Seattle Mariners for Boog Powell.

Cleveland Indians
On December 20, 2017, Alonso signed a two-year contract with the Cleveland Indians worth $16 million. The agreement became official on December 23. In his first season in Cleveland, Alonso continued the power surge from the previous season, hitting 23 home runs with 83 runs batted in 145 games. He had the lowest fielding percentage among Major League first basemen, at .990.

Chicago White Sox
On December 15, 2018, Alonso was traded to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for minor league outfielder Alex Call.

On June 28, the White Sox designated Alonso for assignment after he batted .178 with 7 home runs and 27 runs batted in 67 games. He was placed on release waivers on July 3.

Colorado Rockies
On July 11, 2019, Alonso signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies. On July 23, the Rockies selected Alonso's contract. Alonso was used primarily as a pinch hitter for the Rockies, batting .260 with 3 home runs and 10 runs batted in 73 at-bats.

Atlanta Braves
On February 14, 2020, Alonso signed a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves. He was later removed from the roster before the season began.

San Diego Padres
On August 11, 2020, Alonso was traded to the San Diego Padres in exchange for cash considerations. He became a free agent on November 2, 2020.

Retirement
Alonso announced his retirement via Instagram on November 20, 2020.

Post-Baseball Career
On April 27, 2021, Alonso joined MLB Network as a live analyst. This new contract became effective Friday, April 30, 2021.