Sample Player Profile Page

CORDERO, FRANCISCO


Nickname:	Co-Co	Position:	P
Home:	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	Team:	Retired
Height:	6' 2"	Bats:	R
Weight:	235	Throws:	R
DOB:	5/11/1977	Agent:	Bean Stringfellow
Birth City:	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	Draft:	1994 - Tigers - Free agent
Uniform #:	N/A		1994 - Tigers - Free agent

YR	LEA	TEAM	SAL(K)	G	IP	H	SO	BB	GS	CG	SHO	SV	W	L	OBA	ERA
1995	SAL	FAYETTEVILLE		4	20	26	19	12	4	0	0	0	0	3		6.30
1995	NYP	JAMESTOWN		15	88	96	54	37	14	0	0	0	4	7		5.22
1996	NYP	JAMESTOWN		2	11	5	10	2	2	0	0	0	0	0		0.82
1996	SAL	FAYETTEVILLE		2	7	2	7	6	1	0	0	0	0	0		2.57
1997	MWL	WEST MICHIGAN		50	54	36	67	15	0	0	0	35	6	1		0.99
1998	SL	JACKSONVILLE		17	17	19	18	9	0	0	0	8	1	1		4.86
1999	SL	JACKSONVILLE		47	52	35	58	22	0	0	0	27	4	1		1.38
1999	AL	TIGERS	$200.00	20	19	19	19	18	0	0	0	0	2	2	0.284	3.32
2000	PCL	OKLAHOMA		3	4	7	5	3	0	0	0	1	0	0		4.15
2000	AL	RANGERS	$200.00	56	77.1	87	49	48	0	0	0	0	1	2	0.285	5.35
2001	AL	RANGERS	$277.00	3	2.1	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.3	3.86
2002	AL	RANGERS	$350.00	39	45.1	33	41	13	0	0	0	10	2	0	0.204	1.79
2002	PCL	OKLAHOMA	$222.00	11	12	15	21	7	1	0	0	2	0	2		5.84
2003	AL	RANGERS	$900.00	73	82.2	70	90	38	0	0	0	15	5	8	0.23	2.94
2004	AL	RANGERS	$2,000.00	67	71.2	60	79	32	0	0	0	49	3	4	0.226	2.13
2005	AL	RANGERS	$3,750.00	69	69	61	79	30	0	0	0	37	3	1	0.234	3.39
2006	NL	RANGERS		49	48.2	49	54	16	0	0	0	6	7	4	0.265	4.81
2006	NL	BREWERS		28	26.2	20	30	16	0	0	0	16	3	1	0.213	1.69
2007	NL	BREWERS	$5,425.00	66	63.1	52	86	18	0	0	0	44	0	4	0.218	2.98
2008	NL	REDS	$8,625.00	72	70.1	61	78	38	0	0	0	34	5	4	0.235	3.33
2009	NL	REDS	$12,125.00	68	66.2	58	58	30	0	0	0	39	2	6	0.243	2.16
2010	NL	REDS	$12,125.00	75	72.2	68	59	36	0	0	0	40	6	5	0.246	3.84
2011	NL	REDS	$12,125.00	68	69.2	49	42	22	0	0	0	37	5	3	0.198	2.45
2012	NL	ASTROS		6	5	13	5	4	0	0	0	0	0	3	0.481	19.80
2012	NL	BLUE JAYS		41	34.1	48	26	14	0	0	0	2	3	5	0.34	5.77
2013	-	-

Off the mound, Cordero is easy-going.
Cordero's youngest son was born in Cincinnati in 2008.
August 8, 2012: Francisco's locker was decorated with American flags and he found a cake at his locker with the Stars and Stripes on the front. It was a gesture from his teammates for Cordero passing the exam to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Cordero, who was born in the Dominican Republic, took the final step towards gaining his citizenship Monday in Miami and is now awaiting a date to get sworn in as a U.S. citizen. For Cordero, it's a huge step in his life.
"I've always been blessed with being in the big leagues for so long and having a good career, and this next step makes me happier," he said. "I'm so glad that I did it and I'm happy about it. My family and everyone and all my friends and teammates were happy for me. It's real nice, and I feel good about it."

TRANSACTIONS
November 1999: The Rangers sent OF Juan Gonzalez, P Danny Patterson, and C Gregg Zaun to the Tigers to acquire Cordero, pitchers Justin Thompson and Alan Webb, OF Gabe Kapler, C Bill Haselman, and infielder Frank Catalanotto.
January 16, 2004: Cordero signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Rangers. He can earn an additional $150,000 through performance bonuses.
July 29, 2004: Francisco signed a two-year extension with the Rangers, worth $8 million, avoiding the chance of arbitration for 2005 and keeping Cordero off the free-agent market the following winter. He received a $250,000 signing bonus, $3.75 million in 2005, and $4 million in 2006. The Rangers also have an option for 2007 at $6 million, or a $500,000 buyout.
July 28, 2006: The Brewers sent outfielders Carlos Lee and Nelson Cruz to Texas, acquring Cordero, outfielders Kevin Mench and Laynce Nix and pitchers Francisco Cordero and Julian Cordero from the Texas Rangers.
November 22, 2007: Francisco and the Reds came to agreement on a 4-year, $46 million contract. Cordero received a $500,000 signing bonus and was paid $8.5 million in 2008. The salary jumps to $12 million for each of the final three seasons with full no-trade protection for the first two seasons and a limited no-trade clause after that. The Reds hold a $12 million option for a fifth year.
January 24, 2012: Francisco signed a one-year, $4.5 million contract with the Blue Jays.
July 20, 2012: The Astros sent pitchers Brandon Lyon, J.A. Happ and David Carpenter, and outfielder Ben Francisco to the Blue Jays, acquiring closer Francisco Cordero, right-handed pitchers Joe Musgrove and Asher Wojciechowski, left-handed pitcher David Rollins, catcher Carlos Perez and RHP Kevin Comer.
September 10, 2012: The Astros released Cordero.
Febryary 16, 2014: The Red Sox signed three-time All-Star closer as he attempts a comeback after sitting out the 2013 season after surgery on his left (non-throwing) shoulder.

PERSONAL:

Cordero has a great sinking FASTBALL that reaches 96-98 mph. But it is much more effective when he throws in the 90-92 mph range. When he overthrows, his heater straightens out, or he is really wild. When he doesn't, it has late movement, going in on lefthanded hitters and away from righties. That makes him a very effective potential closer.

Francisco's favorite pitch is his wicked, hard, late-breaking, 88 mph SLIDER. When he throws it for strikes, nobody can touch him. But it tends to either do nothing, or cut too far out of the strike zone to tempt a hitter. He also has a pretty good CHANGEUP.

Francisco really goes after batters. He has a killer stare into them, too. He draws strength from his glare. "I picture the hitter as my enemy," Cordero says. "On the mound, I've got to be mean, I've got to be rough. No more nice guy when I'm pitching."
Francisco had been used primarily as a starting pitcher in his first two years of pro ball, and had mixed feelings when the Tigers told him he was going to the bullpen. "Now I'm glad they made the switch," Cordero said.
In 1997, Francisco set the West Michigan team record for most saves, leading the Midwest League with 35.
In 1999, he limited righthanded hitters to a .141 average in the Southern League, and led the league in saves with 27.
Francisco loves pressure. And he has a good feel for pitching.
Sometimes Cordero misses the plate or leaves the ball high in the strike zone. Since he is a maximum-effort thrower, he can lose the strike zone just long enough to get into trouble.

Reds pitching coach Bryan Price observed: "(Francisco) has a good delivery, but like anybody, it can go south on him from time to time. He collapses his back leg and his weight shifts on to his heel. That's whay a lot of his pitches are pulled to one side of the plate. They'd be inside to a lefthandeder and some balls run up in the zone or bounce."
He would like to be a closer, and the Rangers think he could work his way into that role. But he needs to refine either his slider or changeup to get lefthanded batters out. (Editor's note: Francisco apparently convinced them.)
In 2005, he was still a capable closer with 37 saves in 45 chances. But he wasn't the near-automatic dominator he had been in 2004. (Three of his eight blown saves came against the division-winning Angels.)
"It's hard to do what he does," Rangers manager Buck Showalter said at the end of the 2005 season. "We had to bring him into a lot of games when we would rather have not have used him, but our other guys weren't able to finish the opponent off."
When Francisco gets the last out for a save, he bends backwards and points both index fingers to the sky to honor his mother, Martina, who died at the age of 60 after the 2008 season.
June 1, 2011: Cordero logged his 300th career save.
September 9, 2011: Francisco earned his 322nd career save. That made him the all-time saves leader among pitchers from the Dominican Republic, giving him one more than his friend, Jose Mesa.
"It was an exciting moment," Cordero said. "Not only for me, but for the people who have been following me."
And, that save moved him past Mesa for 13th on the all-time list of Major League closers.

When he retired after the 2012 season, Cordero had a career record of 47-53, with 329 saves, and a 3.38 ERA. He had allowed only 64 home runs and 751 hits in 825 innings.

PITCHING:

May 1998: Cordero went on the D.L. with soreness in his throwing elbow. Then in July, he had surgery to place a screw in the bone of the elbow to repair a stress fracture, ending his 1998 season.

2001: He was on the D.L. with a stress fracture in his lower back for much of the first half of the season, returning to action June 22.
June 2001: Francisco went on the D.L. with pain and tightness in his lower back. He had suffered his second spinal stress fracture of the year. This was also in his lower back, but on the opposite side of the spine.
June-July 2002: Cordero went on the D.L. with a strained right shoulder.
September 26, 2008: Francisco had surgery to remove bone spurs from his right foot. It had been bothering him since spring training, but he never used it as an excuse. The injury kept Cordero from running for conditioning and made it difficult to cover first base.
August 2, 2012: Cordero was on the D.L. with an inflamed right big toe (sesamoiditis). It had bothered Francisco for a week, pitching through the pain.

CAREER INJURY REPORT: