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Daniel Anthony Otero (born February 19, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher of Cuban descent, who currently plays for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics.
Amateur career
Otero went to Ransom Everglades High School in Coconut Grove, Florida. He began his college baseball career at Duke University, where he played for the Duke Blue Devils baseball team in the Atlantic Coast Conference from 2004 through 2006. Playing collegiate summer baseball in the summer of 2005, he helped the Newport Gulls win their third New England Collegiate Baseball League championship.
Otero transferred to the University of South Florida (USF), where he played his senior season with the South Florida Bulls baseball team in the Big East Conference.
Professional career
The San Francisco Giants drafted Otero out of USF in the 21st round (644th overall) of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. They added him to the 40 man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft after the 2011 season. Otero made the club's Opening Day roster in 2012.
Otero won the 2012 Harry S. Jordan Award, which is given in recognition of the player in his first big league camp whose performance and dedication in Spring Training best exemplifies the Giants' spirit. In his major league debut, on April 7, 2012, Otero recorded his first career major league strikeout against Justin Upton.
On March 26, 2013, he was claimed off waivers by the New York Yankees. The Yankees designated him for assignment the next day. Otero was then claimed off waivers by the Oakland Athletics on March 29, 2013, and immediately optioned to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. Otero was designated for assignment after the club acquired Stephen Vogt from the Tampa Bay Rays on April 5, 2013. He was outrighted to Sacramento on April 7.
On June 14, 2013, he was brought up from Sacramento as Hideki Okajima was optioned down. He had his first major-league win in relief of A.J. Griffin on July 2, 2013 against the Chicago Cubs. On September 30, 2014, Otero was the losing pitcher in the 2014 American League Wild Card Game, giving up two earned runs in the bottom of the 12th inning.
On November 3, 2015, Otero was claimed off of waivers by the Philadelphia Phillies. They designated him for assignment on December 11 and traded him to the Cleveland Indians for cash considerations on December 18.