Carlos Obed Ortiz Baerga[1] (/baɪˈɛərɡə/; Spanish: [baˈeɾɣa]; born November 4, 1968) is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball player.
[2] He was considered one of Major League Baseball's hardest-hitting middle infielders by 1995 with his superb bat speed and switch-hitting power.
On December 6, 1989, San Diego traded him to the Cleveland Indians along with Sandy Alomar Jr. and Chris James in exchange for established power-hitter Joe Carter.
Baerga became the first second baseman since Rogers Hornsby in 1922 to have back-to-back 200+ hit, 20+ home run, 100+ RBI, and .300+ average seasons when he accomplished the feat in 1992–93.
The Indians made it to the World Series, where they fell to the Atlanta Braves in six games (Baerga flew out to Marquis Grissom for the final out).
Baerga played 100 games with the Indians in 1996, before being traded to the New York Mets on July 29, 1996, with Álvaro Espinoza, for Jeff Kent and José Vizcaíno.
In 2001, he played for the Long Island Ducks and in the Korea Baseball Organization, Samsung Lions(삼성 라이온즈 야구단)).
The Diamondbacks re-signed him for 2004, but the aging Baerga, now prone to injury, was hurt again and was only able to play in 20 games that season.
As a broadcaster, Baerga has enjoyed prominence as a color commentator for Monday Night Baseball retransmissions in Spanish on ESPN Dos for the Mexico-Caribbean-Venezuela region.
[9] In 2013, Baerga became the manager of the Indios de Mayagüez in Puerto Rico's Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League.