Conversation with Retired MLB Reliever Dan Otero

Dan Otero pitched eight years in the Major Leagues. He is now the Senior Director of On-Field Operations for Major League Baseball. What does that even mean?

I worked with Dan in 2008. I was the clubhouse manager, he was the closer until he got promoted to San Jose. It had been 17 years since we spoke. It was great to catch up. I'm happy for him and all his successes.

Transcript

Jeff Perro (00:36)
Hello everybody, Jeff Perro back with another episode of Catch Up with JP. Today's guest is Mr. Dan Otero. Mr. Otero spent parts of eight seasons in the big leagues. Now he has a really interesting job as the senior director of on-field operations for Major League Baseball. Anybody? Anybody get any clue? But that means I don't. don't have a clue about it Looking forward to finding out about it. Also, interesting fact for you, Mr. Otero and I were together on the 2008 Augusta Green Jackets. I was the home clubhouse manager.

He was the closer, got promoted mid-season because he was freaking rad. So it's been 17 years since I've talked to this man and Really looking forward to catching up with him.

Speaker 2 (01:19)
everybody I'd to welcome Mr. Dan Otero to our show today. Mr. Otero is an eight-year big league veteran. He spent a year, parts of a year with the Giants, three years with the A's, four years with the Indians. Now he has a really interesting job I cannot wait to hear more about with the Major League Baseball Office. Mr. Otero, hello.

Speaker 1 (01:38)
Hello, Jeff, thanks for having me on. Really good seeing you again for all these years.

Speaker 2 (01:41)
I know it's been a long time, hasn't it? I worked with this man in 2008. it has been, I'm really bad at math, it's about 77 years since I've actually seen this guy in person. I mentioned the email, man. So I hate to use the word proud because that sounds kind of silly, but so proud of all that you've accomplished since 2008. long career on the mound.

Speaker 1 (01:44)
I think it's

It's a while.

Appreciate that.

Yeah, don't forget the Sally League Championship in 2008 also.

Speaker 2 (02:15)
I still have my ring, but sadly it's in storage.

Speaker 1 (02:17)
I actually have mine right here. I was almost going to bust it out. I might have it.

Speaker 2 (02:21)
man. And also in storage, know I have some Augusta Green Jackets championship t-shirts as well. It might have some holes in them now, but we'll see when I get them out of storage eventually.

Speaker 1 (02:28)
I don't know about either.

I think my daughter was wearing my green jacket ring the other day, actually.

Speaker 2 (02:39)
I would be freaking out if my daughter had my chainmanger bring on. Where are you living right now?

Speaker 1 (02:46)
I'm in Miami, so Coral Gables, Florida, right by University of Miami.

Speaker 2 (02:50)
I'm in Bradenton now. I'm about 10 minutes from the Pirates Stadium.

So Daniel, I heard that you grew up as a baseball fan. Where did you grow up and how did you get into baseball?

Speaker 1 (03:05)
Yeah, no, Jeff, thanks for having me on. baseball fan growing up. I was born and raised in Miami, Florida. My dad was born in Cuba and his dad grew up a huge baseball fan in Cuba. So they used to go to Winter League games down in Cuba in Havana when some major league teams used to do training down there, namely the Orioles and the Yankees.

And so baseball has always been talked about in my house when I was younger. You know, my grandfather was a huge Yankee fan. My dad then followed in his footsteps of the Yankee fan. My uncle decided to go against the grain. was a Dodger fan. So it was just always a big topic of conversation in the household. And you still always hear stories about the players they saw in Cuba come down. Hoyt Wilhelm was one of them, a knuckleballer from the Orioles.

Um, so it was just always a part of my life and fortunate enough to be put in little leagues. You know, when I was younger down in South Florida, um, we can talk about the little league program too now, but that's kind of default, but that's a whole nother story. And then just, uh, yeah, just kept playing and kept playing. Was very fortunate enough to get a chance to play college. And you know, like you said, uh, very, very lucky to end up pitching in big leagues for a while.

Speaker 2 (04:14)
Yeah, good.

I said that that's interesting. It's kind of interesting that you grew up a baseball fan because I've met a lot of guys that played baseball that just kind of athletic are good at baseball, are good at baseball. And they're 18 years old and they couldn't name 10 major league teams if you put a gun to their head. That's not not baseball fans is good at. So it's kind of interesting that you grew up a fan of the game as well. That's that's yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:51)
And love the history of it as well. Still do. I think it's just a fascinating sport to really understand how far back it's gone. In college I actually did a thesis for an independent study in history on baseball. I convinced the professor that I could do a 20 page paper on baseball. He was like, really? He said, come at me with something. So I ended up convincing him I was gonna do it on minorities in baseball and I was able to follow.

make back to the Dodgers and Branch Rickey and how they were kind of at the forefront of a lot of the minority inclusion in baseball players.

Speaker 2 (05:31)
The minorities in baseball, that's a thing that's becoming kind of more so than it was when you began your professional career 10 years ago. There's less diversity than it was 10, 20 years ago in the game now. So that's interesting that you have interest in that, especially in the position there.

Speaker 1 (05:46)
I think the diversity has changed in a lot of ways, right? When we played, when we were together in 08, at the 08 level, was almost a half and half in terms of American and Latino players. Now, yes, we're getting more globalization from types of players, like whether it Japan, Korea, different parts of Latin America, trying to get Australia in, trying to get different parts of Europe in.

Speaker 2 (05:50)
No.

There's guys getting signed out of Africa and Europe now.

Speaker 1 (06:14)
It's crazy and that's a testament to the league is done. But if you go back 30 years, the player population of black players was upwards of over 20%. And now that number has decreased dramatically to like 6%. You know, so you're seeing a shift in who the minorities are in the player population, which is interesting and something that I know the league is cognizant of.

Speaker 2 (06:37)
So, Duke University, that's a smart kids' school and you did a thesis on baseball history. That's

Speaker 1 (06:43)
It was a smart kids school that I could not have gone to without baseball. I took advantage of it.

Speaker 2 (06:49)
That's great. It's great for young kids in here to take advantage of baseball for college scholarship, peace college.

Speaker 1 (06:55)
You know,

it's, it's, it's, like that you said young kids, but I think it's really good for, you know, parents and kids to know one of the first questions a player gets in high school from a college coach, no matter the sport is what's your GPA. Right. Cause if you're, if your GPA or test scores aren't good enough, a lot of schools, can't recruit you. and they can help you get into the school, but if you don't have that, at least that baseline, you know, all the good GPA and good test scores, they just won't recruit you.

And getting into school can really open up a lot of doors athletically and beyond.

Speaker 2 (07:29)
I think yours might have had a hand opening up your after baseball career as well. We'll get to that part. Drafted by the Giants in 2007, made your way up through their system. You got your debut on April 7th of 2012. Spent a little bit of time with them. Went over to the A's for a few years and then the Indians for a few years. It was a little run down of your major league career.

Speaker 1 (07:36)
Yeah, well.

Speaker 2 (07:55)
But that was like what was like making your debut and playing in the big games that you played in.

Speaker 1 (08:01)
Yeah, was a dream come true. know, honestly, never thought it was ever going to happen. You know, never thought I was good enough to play college baseball. Never thought I was good enough to play pro baseball. You know, watching guys pitch and hit and run and throw. And I got to pro ball my God, these guys are so good. They're grown men. They can throw harder. They can do this better. Convinced myself I was good enough, whether I lied to myself or tricked myself, whatever. Had that inner confidence that I

try to exude too much and just kind of put my head down and perform at every level. I was very fortunate enough to make the Open Day roster with the Giants in 2012, like you said. And it was a good year to be on the Giants. We ended up winning the World Series at the end of it. So the nice World Series ring. And I still have my lineup card for my debut. I actually look at it every time I'm in my office here because it reminds me of that achievement. And seeing the names on there is pretty cool. Bumgarner started the game.

know, a guy played with him in the lower levels, is really, yeah, which is really cool to, you know, play with him in the big leagues after being with him in Augusta, being with him in San Jose, being with him in Connecticut. He went through those levels a little faster than me, but, you know, we still got to the top together.

Speaker 2 (09:15)
And he went through those levels faster than some other guys did.

Speaker 1 (09:18)
Yeah, true, But then just like any other person, think in the big leagues, you have your ups and downs, right? Like I didn't stick with the Giants. They discarded me in 2013 at the end of spring training, bounced around, ended up making it up in June of 2013 with the A's. And then from that point on, I kind of stuck in the big leagues, which was awesome.

Speaker 2 (09:41)
When did you finally feel comfortable like you belonged? You weren't looking over your shoulder? Yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:47)
I don't think I ever felt like I belonged, Jeff. I'll be honest with you. Yeah. mean, yes, I thought I belonged, but I also knew that if I didn't keep working hard or keep trying to get better, there was going to be somebody trying to take my job. You know, every year the organizations draft upwards of 25 players now, you know, sometimes with free agent signs 30, 35 from the domestic realm. And then they bring in another 15 or 20 from international. So there's...

50 new people come into the organization every single year, trying to push the next group ahead of them. So I never tried to dwell on where I was and always try to push to get better. So I don't know if I ever felt, actually felt like I ever did the long, because if I felt that way, I felt like I got complacent. But I was lucky enough to stick from 13 to 19, pitching some big games, like you said, made it to another World Series in 16 with Cleveland.

Now they're the guardians, so I'll try to say guardians and not their other name.

Speaker 2 (10:52)
I have been saying the other name. I can catch myself and say Cleveland. Thanks for correcting me there. That's all right.

Speaker 1 (10:56)
That's right.

They had a great year this year too.

Speaker 2 (11:00)
Yeah, for sure. Your final season in the big leagues is 2019. You went to spring training with the Yankees, correct? In 2020. I wasn't around baseball at the time. I have a real curiosity of what the 2020 baseball season was like. And I know you were the Yankees in spring training and I was living in Clearwater at the time, a few miles away from the Phillies facility.

Speaker 1 (11:11)
2020.

Speaker 2 (11:28)
And man, it's just a weird time to be alive, much less imagine a strange time to be a major league baseball player. Tell me a little bit about your 2020 season. Your 2020 experience, I guess.

Speaker 1 (11:37)
Yeah,

Yeah, no kidding. Well, after 2019, I became a free agent and then those, you know, I signed a deal with the Yankees to be a non roster invite. I was hoping to have a chance to make the team pitching pretty well in spring training. And then obviously the world is kind of shut down. Obviously, it's March, you know, COVID outbreak and we're all set home. Didn't really know what was next. And then come June with spring training 2.0, I was invited back to New York for the

Spring training 2.0 in New York at Yankee Stadium. It was like 55 of us probably. And that was very surreal because, you know, this huge New York City usually nonstop bustling with traffic was like shut down. But we were there staying at a really nice hotel in Midtown and commuting back and forth on a bus, doing COVID tests every day at the stadium, wearing masks. Didn't really, couldn't really hang out with anybody. You were just at the field, at the hotel, at the field, at the hotel.

And I'll have

Speaker 2 (12:43)
It adds a whole other level to the grind.

Speaker 1 (12:46)
It does. It really does. And so you're playing inter-squad games every single day against, you know, I facing Aaron Judge every day, basically Stanton, Torres, Gio Urshela, who else was on that? I it was like Gary Sanchez was like, my gosh, I think navigate this lineup every single day. This is not fun. You know, every time I have to pitch. And then I was also my family was back in Seattle. That's where we lived at the time.

So like, man, should I really be doing this? I was having a hard time getting ready. I couldn't break a pane of glass anymore. If my fastball barely touching 90, I was never a hard thrower it, man. I couldn't have like get to 90 anymore. So arm was hurting, body was hurting. So at the end of spring training 2.0 decided to go home. And at that point I decided it was time to be done with playing. So I fell out of love with the preparation.

of all the monotonous, which I used to find enjoyable, know, shoulder work, core work, all that stuff. And yeah, kind of ended it and stayed with the family during COVID and we ended up moving down to Miami a few months later.

I have kids that are, you know, elementary school age kids now, so I'm able to help out with dances and gymnastics, field trips, and you know, that part I really enjoy.

Speaker 2 (14:11)
Good, good, good. And then you fell into a job with Baseball Operator. I'm gonna say you fell into, but you ended up in 2021. I don't know the story there. And in 2021, you were working in Baseball Operations Department with Cleveland. How did you get in that? And how did you feel about getting in?

Speaker 1 (14:29)
Yeah, so I was like, you kind of alluded to the beginning of this. I loved the baseball since I was a kid. And I always knew I wanted to do something in baseball and was fortunate enough to create good contacts when I was playing with front office members, coaches, other players throughout the industry. So when I was done playing, I started basically going through my internal Rolodex, texting guys that I played with that were now in different positions.

Guy that I worked out with that were in different positions, front office members I came across just to try to pick their brain on what they thought I could do well in the industry. Ended up deciding to take an interview with Cleveland for a front office position with them. I was very fortunate to get it. It was really enjoyable learning and growing, dealing with them because I really value what they do as an organization and how they run things. So when I was working with them in 2021,

helping out with a variety of things. And one of them was actually doing advanced counter-reports for Tito. Thought I was throwing big words to see if you would understand them. I stumped him a few times. During the year, MLB commissioner's office had reached out about a position that opened up with them in their on-field operations department where they're trying to get a, you know, former player, namely a pitcher that could help provide some perspective.

Speaker 2 (15:36)
You

Speaker 1 (15:54)
and be an asset to that side. And so did some thinking, didn't know what I was going to do and I've taken that job in October of 2021. That's not been with them in the league office ever since then.

Speaker 2 (16:09)
And your title, or official title is Senior Director of On-Field Operations. fancy, It sounds fancy, but it also sounds extremely broad. What does that entail? seems like it could be anything.

Speaker 1 (16:22)
That's exactly right, Jeff. And it does. it's... That's what's great about it for me. It is broad. So I get to be exposed to a lot of different things within the game industry and learn a lot. You know, so whether we're dealing with a jewel event in Tokyo or the World Baseball Classic or the All-Star Game or Little League Classic.

or the Field of Dreams game a couple of years ago, Bristol Speedway game coming up. We're kind of involved in a lot of those different things to make sure that the stadium is ready, the field is ready, the players when they get there are taken care of. So we're talking with our global events team to make sure that the locker room is set up in a way that a major league player is accustomed to, that everything is ready for the replay coordinators, the training room, the weight room.

So we kind of have our hands in a lot of different things and then obviously with the big rule changes from a couple years ago, we're constantly getting feedback from players and coaches and from offices about what they think might be coming next or where they think the game is going. Always thinking about the fans also and what they want to see, you know, to make sure that this game is growing in an upward trajectory and maintaining its popularity.

Speaker 2 (17:45)
I was right. mean, I that was going be a very interesting job title. And actually, you seem like you special assignments. Major League Baseball is something different. What's special assignments? Special assignments, special ops Are you mainly working from home doing this? You do a lot of travel? The league office?

Speaker 1 (17:58)
So,

I get to work from home on the road probably two, two and a half months out of the year, sporadically. The other two former players I work closely with are Gregor Blanco and Rajai Davis, who I played with both of them, you know, so it's a very easy working environment. And then our group is great, but we're kind of spread out throughout the country with a lot of people obviously in the office in New York. So go there sporadically.

Speaker 2 (18:37)
They're looking for a pitcher for the job. I'll you in a couple of outfielders.

Speaker 1 (18:42)
Exactly, exactly. So now we need, I guess we need to find a catcher, you know? Get somebody to be on the plate that can tell us what's what.

Speaker 2 (18:50)
I'll keep an ear out for you. If I run into any former catchers for you. So you mentioned the family at three elementary school age kids. So that's you get work from home and the schedule flexibility. sounds fantastic.

Speaker 1 (19:04)
Yeah, yeah, so very lucky to have that. They're, you know, they're great. They're a handful, three girls, so I'm looking forward to those middle school years. Need to brush up on my patience.

Speaker 2 (19:14)
I've had a exciting week is my son's fifth birthday Tuesday. Yesterday was a big Chuck E Cheese deal. then I have a three and a five and now just a few months ago I had a two and a four. So my ways away from that.

Speaker 1 (19:22)
Congratulations.

Yeah, same age gap over here. We're 11, 9, 7.

Speaker 2 (19:38)
Well, that's great, man. Now I got a couple kind of questions that I want to ask everybody that I talked to. You being where you are now and doing what you've done in the big leagues, if you're able to get a phone call with just fresh out of high school, Dan Otero, to kind of give him some advice, 18 year old Dan Otero, give him some advice on something that he could do.

Anything different than you've done? Anything that enhances his baseball experience you could give him for advice?

Speaker 1 (20:06)
That's a great question. Probably a few things. One of the things that I learned after I actually I had Tommy John surgery in 2009 and I never realized how much work I actually had to do to keep my arm healthy until after I had my Tommy John surgery. So that's probably one thing I would have definitely wanted to tell myself. Like if you think you're working, work more.

Once you're out of college, it really does become your job. And every day you need to do something to make yourself better. It doesn't need to be go lift heavy weights or go run through a wall, but you know, do something every day that can make yourself just a little bit better. And so I wish I'd probably done a little bit more of that pre Tommy John. And the other thing I would probably tell myself is just to really enjoy it. You know, soak it all in and

you whether you, whether you get to low a high a doesn't really matter. Very few people in the world that can say they play professional baseball at any level. And so I think I was able to reflect on that after the fact, but during it, you know, you kind of stressed out about, I'm not, I'm not getting promoted. I'm not moving up I'm not doing this. I'm not doing that. And instead of just kind of really enjoying absorbing all the fun that it actually is to put on what I like to call comfy pajamas every day, you know, like

Baseball uniform is awesome to put on every single day. Let's enjoy it.

Speaker 2 (21:37)
I know time kind of happens quick. One of the things I've heard with parenting is, what is it? The days are long, but the years are fast. I feel like that kind of could equate to baseball too. You put in all the work every day, 365 days a year for so many years, and you look back at your career and it's like, oh, that was quick. I wish I could have slowed down and savored that a little more. Kind of similar?

Speaker 1 (22:00)
Yeah, no, I think that's a great analogy. know, absolutely great analogy. You the only thing I love to do with our kids is to sit and look at pictures from things that we've done in the past and just reminisce about that. Turn to more and more of it because time does fly and if you don't actually enjoy those moments, whether it's in the moment or like looking back at pictures from those special events, you can sometimes forget.

Speaker 2 (22:22)
My next question is we kind of answered a little bit as previously before. The question I want to ask everybody is now if you could go back to 2019, 2020 and call that Dan Otero at the end of his big league career, not sure what to do next, not sure where he's going to have next. And you could give that young man some advice. What would you tell him?

Speaker 1 (22:44)
Like I still call him a young man, he was a little older.

Speaker 2 (22:47)
I almost stopped myself but it was already out.

Speaker 1 (22:49)
I don't know. I really don't know that one. Maybe take a little bit more time before you completely hang it up. You know, somewhat impulsive, not totally impulsive, but like, hey, are you sure you want to do this? I have no regrets, but that is something that talked with people about at of their careers. And it's like, man, I just wish I had done this a little bit. I wish I'd given it another chance, another spring training.

know, or what have you.

Speaker 2 (23:21)
you

look at it now if you had changed something there then you wouldn't be where you are now. I'm speaking for you but I'm speaking for you I feel like where you're at now is really freaking cool and it's great for your family life and it like you might have a great trajectory so we'll touch base in another 16 years and see what you've accomplished since then. We be sitting in the same spot. It could be a great spot for you that's cool.

Speaker 1 (23:42)
Alright, here, doesn't say no.

Speaker 2 (23:47)
All right, Mr. Otero, I definitely appreciate your time today and this has definitely been an interesting conversation. It's fun to learn about a new position that a casual baseball fan wouldn't have know existed. It's a whole different side of the sport that people don't really think about. People just see the field of dreams game on TV and don't really know how it happened. They see these rules changes and just kind of try and figure out how they decided to do that and how the players get used to it. And now we know the answer to that question.

I definitely appreciate your time. Thank you for being on our show today and I will probably touch base with you in the future and it's been great catching up with you. Thank you, Mr. Otero

Speaker 1 (24:24)
Great seeing you, Jeff. Don't be a stranger.