Former Met of the Day: Edwin Almonte (2003)

Edwin Almonte was born on December 17, 1976 in Santiago, Dominican Republic. The six foot three right hander came to New York & attended Seward Park High school on the Lower East side of Manhattan. He got drafted by the Chicago White Sox way down in the 26th round of the 1988 draft. He spent five seasons in the Sox minors as a reliever, before getting traded to the New York Mets along with Royce Ring for Roberto Alomar in August of 2003.

He made his debut at Shea against the Braves that month allowing a run over two innings. Overall he allowed 13 earned runs over nine innings into early August when he was demoted to the minors. At AAA Norfolk that summer he was being groomed as a closer, going 1-1 with six saves & a 2.55 ERA in 16 games pitched. He returned in September pitching in just three more career games. He finished the year with a 11.12 ERA, before getting placed on waivers. He was picked by the Red Sox but never made it to the big leagues again. Almonte currently pitches in the Independent League in Illinois.