Yuniesky Betancourt

Yuniesky Betancourt Pérez was born in Santa Clara, Cuba in 1982. He spent three years in the Cuban National Series before he defected from Cuba in December 2003 and ended up in Mexico. The Seattle Mariners signed Betancourt in January 2005, and he made his major league debut six months later.

Betancourt averaged 155 games played per season from 2006-08 for Seattle before he was traded to the Kansas City Royals in July 2009. He played 1 ½ seasons in Kansas City and then was traded to the Brewers after the 2010 season.

The right-handed hitting shortstop slashed .252/.271/.381 across 556 at-bats for the Brew Crew, neither walking nor striking out at a high rate. His career averages were a K rate of 10.2% and a BB rate of 3.3%. On the downside, Betancourt committed 21 errors in the field, with many of his errors coming on bad throws.

He was granted free agency after the season and was re-signed by the Royals. But after only 57 games in Kansas City, he was released. In early 2013, he was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies but was released during spring training. The Brewers re-signed him two days later.

Betancourt signed a one-year contract with the Brewers and played in 137 games, slashing .212/.240/.355 across 391 at-bats, although he did show some power with 13 home runs. Betancourt was granted free agency on Halloween 2013.

Over the next five seasons, Betancourt was quite the globetrotter, playing in Japan, Mexico, and the Caribbean Series. He repatriated to Cuba in 2019 and played in the Villa Clara Provincial League.

During his MLB career, Betancourt slashed .261/.285/.388 and banged out 1,057 hits, including 80 home runs.

In 2024, Betancourt was arrested with three others for defrauding Chicago-based Kemper Insurance.    

• The first former MLB player to return to Cuba (in 2019) after defecting
• Hit a HR in the Brewers 9-6 win over St. Louis in Game 1 of the 2011 NLCS