Daniel Mayora has played as a minor league baseball player for twelve years. He began his career in 2003 with the Colorado Rockies organization as an undrafted free agent out of La Guaria, Venezuela. Following two years in the Dominican Summer League he played six years in the Rockies minor league system. During that time he was ranked their #20 prospect after the 2007 season and also the #17 prospect in the High A South Atlantic League in the same year.

During his tenure in the Rockies farm system he advanced as far as the Class AA Tulsa Drillers in 2009 and 2010. He did hit well combining for a .286 batting average and .350 OBP during those two years while playing three infield positions. Twice during his time as a Rockies farm hand he stole 20 or more bases. In six seasons playing for Rockies affiliates in the United States, Mayora batted .294 in 2,104 at-bats.

His 2010 season ended after 66 games, cut short by a broken hand. Following that season he was signed as a minor league free agent by the Tampa Bay Rays. Baseball America’s Marc Hulet wrote: “Mayora is less athletic and lacks the first-step quickness needed to be a stolen-base threat or to play shortstop regularly. He was left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft despite a career .297 average and potential above-average power for a middle infielder.”

In 10 minor league seasons, Daniel Mayora has a career triple-slash of .294/.356/.420 – a triple-slash that most major leaguers would kill for. (Photo credit – Tim Evearitt)

Mayora spent only the 2011 season in the Rays farm system playing both with the Class AA Montgomery Biscuits of the Southern League and the Durham Bulls of the AAA International League spending most of his game time at third base. He hit a combined .288 with nine home runs with 43 RBI and an OBP of .360.

The 2012 season found him as a member of the San Francisco Giants Class AA affiliate- the Richmond Flying Squirrels of the Eastern League. He continued his consistency throughout the season hitting .281 with four home runs and 57 RBI with a .360 OBP and 14 stolen bases while again playing mostly at the hot corner.

Mayora went unsigned as a free agent following the 2012 season and ended up signing a deal with the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Independent Atlantic League. In 106 games with the Bluefish he batted .306—fifth-best in the Atlantic League, widely acknowledged as the top independent minor league circuit in the country. He also collected 24 doubles, seven home runs, 44 RBI, 61 runs scored and 12 stolen bases.

On November 20, 2013 the Dodgers signed the now 28-year-old Mayora to a minor league contract. “It’s great to see Daniel receive this opportunity,” says Bluefish general manager Ken Shepard. “He was one of the top players in the Atlantic League this past season and we wish him the best of luck. I’m actually surprised that it took this long for an MLB organization to sign him.”

Mayora spent the entire 2014 season with the Class AA Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern League. His .302 batting average was the fifth highest in the league, his 75 RBI were the third most while his 149 hits led the league. He posted a .360 OBP and contributed 14 stolen bases. He was particularly hot down the stretch hitting .333 while driving in 42 runs in the second half.

On August 12th Mayora was named the Southern League Player of the Week : “Third baseman Daniel Mayora has been a big factor in the Chattanooga Lookouts’ nine-game winning streak, and Monday he was honored as the Southern League player of the week. Mayora went 12-for-23 for a gaudy .522 batting average in the six games included in the honor, and he had a home run, a triple, two doubles and six RBIs.”

Daniel Mayora has been re-signed by the Dodgers for the 2015 season. I expect he will play third base with the Oklahoma City Dodgers making it one more step closer to getting an at bat at the major league baseball level.

There are over 6,000 minor league players vying for 750 spots on 30 major league 25-man rosters. In the 2014 First Year Player Draft, 1,215 high school and college players were selected by the 30 major league teams. Granted, all of them did not sign contracts with their drafting teams but that process repeats itself year after year. The percentage of these minor league players making it to the big time is frighteningly small.

Minor league players, especially at the lower levels, are paid below the minimum wage standard and are paid only during the time they are playing in a given year. They are playing and living at a subsistence level.

While with the Colorado Rockies’ organization, Mayora made Texas League all-star teams in 2009 and 2010. After switching to the Tampa Bay system he was named to the Southern League all-star team and finally as a San Francisco Giants farmhand he was named an Eastern League all-star. In four years he was an all-star in all three Double-A leagues.

With the odds stacked against them why do minor league players continue to play year after year? Why does Daniel Mayora continue to play when advancement even as an all-star is so very difficult?

During a July 2012 article written by Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter John O’Connor, Mayora told O’Connor that his wife once asked him “Sometimes, don’t you get frustrated?” Mayora said that he answered his wife’s question without the slightest hesitation telling her “I’m OK. I’m playing baseball.” In that article O’Connor added that “[Mayora] explains how much he loves the game, how there is no other job he would prefer.”

Richmond Flying Squirrels manager Dave Machemer appreciated what Mayora brought his team: “You have a lot of success, and you wonder why you’re still at this level at his age,” Machemer said of Mayora. “I don’t think he looks at it that way because he is the consummate professional. He comes to work every day with a smile on his face. He wants to do whatever it’s going to take to help the team win. A guy like that, every club needs.”

Richmond Flying Squirrels manager Dave Machemer calls Daniel Mayora “the consummate professional.” (Photo credit – Eva Russo)

As I followed the Chattanooga Lookouts during the 2014 season I too became appreciative of what Mayora brought to the team. He was a team leader, certainly during the Lookouts stretch run, and in my opinion a case could easily have been made that he was the MVP on the Lookouts. In a tight situation I wanted him to come to the plate even on a team that included Corey Seager, Darnell Sweeney, Scott Schebler and O’Koyea Dickson.

Mayora is more than an aspiring major league baseball player. He has devoted his life to pursuing his career. He may have simply settled for playing the game he loves as long as he can but I doubt he has settled. He still has his dream and he plays everyday in hot pursuit of it.

Beyond that, Daniel Mayora is a representative for all of the other Daniel Mayora’s in minor league baseball. That is, all the players working day in an day out to follow a dream and to continue to follow it even if it seems increasingly unattainable. All of those young men are the glue that holds minor league baseball together as some graduate to major league baseball. The minor league teams continue to survive and thrive simply because of Daniel Mayora and those like him who always give more than is expected of them.

If we think about it a bit we soon realize that major league baseball continues to flourish not only because of the young players who have made it through the minor league maze but even more so because of players like Daniel Mayora who fill out minor league rosters providing a milieu through which all major league players can develop and progress. Those minor league players, the Daniel Mayoras of the world, are the very foundation of professional baseball – minor league and major league.

Daniel Mayora is much more than a career minor leaguer – he is a career professional in every sense of the word.