Dan Cortes

Daniel Adam Cortes (born March 4, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in 14 Major League Baseball (MLB) games with the Seattle Mariners from 2010 to 2011. He was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the seventh round of the 2005 MLB draft. He played in several team's minor league organizations through 2013.

Professional career

Chicago White Sox Cortes began his professional career in with the Rookie-Level Bristol White Sox of the Appalachian League. While playing under manager Jerry Hairston, Cortes went 1–4 with a 5.17 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 15 games, even started. Baseball America ranked Cortes as the 22nd best prospect in the White Sox organization.

In , Cortes began his season with the Class-A Kannapolis Intimidators of the South Atlantic League. He went 3–9 with a 4.01 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 20 games, 19 starts.

Kansas City Royals On July 24, 2006, the White Sox traded Cortes to the Kansas City Royals along with pitcher Tyler Lumsden for relief pitcher Mike MacDougal. Cortes was again awarded Pitcher of the Week for the week of August 27 to September 2.

He played for the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals of the Texas League in . Cortes went 10–4 with a 3.78 ERA with 109 strikeouts in 23 games, all starts. Before the season he was ranked as the second best prospect in the Royals' organization by Baseball America. He was also named to the Texas League All-Star team. He did miss playing time while on the disabled list. The Royals recognized Cortes as the top pitcher for the Double-A Naturals and he was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League at the end of the '08 season.

In January , Cortes received the "Paul Splittorff Pitcher of the Year Award" from the Royals. He attended spring training with the Royals in as a non-roster invitee. Cortes was named a "Player to Watch" by MLB.com before the season. He went 6–6 with a 3.92 ERA with 57 strikeouts in 16 games, 15 starts with the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals.

Seattle Mariners On July 10, 2009 Cortes was traded by the Royals with Derrick Saito to the Seattle Mariners for Yuniesky Betancourt. Cortes was assigned to the Double-A West Tenn Diamond Jaxx. he went 1–5 with a 4.94 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 10 games, all starts. He was added to the Mariners 40-man roster on November 20.

Cortes pitched in four major league games for the Mariners in 2010 and 10 games in 2011.

On December 12, 2011, the Mariners announced that Cortes had been non-tendered along with catcher Chris Gimenez.

Minor leagues Cortes signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals on January 4, 2012. His contract was voided on February 29, after he failed his physical with the Nationals.

Cortes signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 15, 2013. He was released on May 21. Four days later, he signed with the San Diego Padres. He elected free agency after the season.

I told the guys I was going to leave and they said OK, they'd come too and we started to walk out...There were three gangsters outside and they picked a fight with one of my co-workers. I tried to mellow everyone out, but I got caught up in it and two guys tried to fight me. I started fighting and I got stabbed eight times. — Dan Cortes, MLB.com: November 7, 2008.