Brian Fuentes

[William Malone]

Brian Christopher Fuentes was born on August 9, 1975 in Merced, California.

The Seattle Mariners drafted him in round 25 of the 1995 MLB Draft. He made his Major League debut for them in 2001, making ten relief appearances and posting a 4.63 ERA. Seattle traded him to the Colorado Rockies that off-season, as part of a package for All-Star third baseman Jeff Cirillo.

Fuentes became a regular in the Rockies bullpen. He had a breakout season in 2003, owning a 2.75 ERA with four saves in 75 relief appearances. The Rockies named him their full time closer in 2005, and Fuentes became a regular at the midsummer classic. His ERA was 3.04 between 2005 and 2008, making three All-Star teams and recording 111 saves.

He signed a two year deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, replacing departing closer Francisco Rodriguez. His 3.93 ERA and 1.400 WHIP in 2009 were well below the personal standards he established in Colorado, but Fuentes still led the American League with 48 saves that season. A high powered Angels offense was frequently giving him two and three run leads, allowing Fuentes a little wiggle room when on the mound in the ninth inning. Things got even worse in the first part of 2010, with his ERA ballooning up to 5.59 through 20 appearances. Despite this, Fuentes was still 12-for-15 in save chances. He began pitching a little better after that, and was traded to the Minnesota Twins in an August waiver deal. His ERA with the Angles had calmed down to 3.52 over 39 outings by the time of the trade.

His first bit of action with the Twins was a memorable one. Fuentes arrived in the middle of their game against the Seattle Mariners, and was on the mound in a save situation about 90 minutes later. Nick Blackburn had tossed a gem, allowing just two hits over 8.2 brilliant innings. Ron Gardenhire tried to let Blackburn get the 27th out, but he issued a two out walk to Chone Figgins. Trying to protect a slim 1-0 lead, Gardenhire then turned to his new bullpen weapon fresh off the plane. Fuentes struck out Mariners designated hitter Russell Branyan on four pitches, earning the save in his Twins debut.

It was the only save he would earn during his short time with Minnesota, serving primarily as the set-up man for fellow midseason acquisition Matt Capps. They were both brilliant down the stretch. Capps had a 2.00 ERA with 16 saves in 27 appearances, and Fuentes had a perfect 0.00 ERA in nine appearances. These two trades helped solidify a bullpen that had been shaky after losing Joe Nathan during spring training. The Twins had trailed the Chicago White Sox by 1.5 games at the end of July, partly due to bullpen issues. They wound up winning the AL Central by six games. Fuentes pitched 2.2 shutout innings for Minnesota in the ALDS loss against the New York Yankees, allowing just one of the nine batters he faced to reach base.

The Oakland Athletics signed Fuentes to a two year contract that off-season. He was their closer at the beginning of the 2011 campaign, but quickly lost the job to Andrew Bailey due to performance issues. These struggles continued in 2012, and he was designated for assignment in July. The St. Louis Cardinals picked him up, and finished out the season there pitching in lower leverage situations. Fenutes was not on the Cardinals playoff roster that fall, and he retired after the season. 

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