Jose Leon

Married, wife's name is Anayarcy...Graduated from Tecnico Deportiro HS in Cayey, PR.

1994

In his first pro season, finished 4th on Rookie level in Chandler in games (46) and RBI (17) despite getting only 5 extra base hits...played both second and third base.

1995

Played part-time role at third base for Class-A Savannah...Also saw action in one game in the outfield.

1996

Spent most of the season at Rookie level Johnson City...Between Johnson City and Class A New Jersey, combined to bat .252 (63-250) with 11 home runs in 66 games...Led Appalachian League with 92 strikeouts... Tied for 3rd in Appy League with 10 home runs and was 4th in HR/AB ratio (1/22.2).

1997

Tied for 3rd in Appy League with 10 home runs and was 4th in HR/AB ratio (1/22.2)... part-time role at third base for Class A Savannah...Also saw action in one game in the outfield...

1998

Led Class A Prince William and was 3rd in Cardinals organization with 21 home in Carolina League, one behind league-leader Mike Glavine of Kinston...Led the Carolina League in slugging with a .521 percentage...Finished 6th and 7th with 74 RBI...Named to league's post-season All-Star team.

1999

At Arkansas, was 2nd on Travelers with 18 home runs behind Chris Richard's 29 and tied RBI...Had 3 three-homer games and homered in 3 straight games, 7/24-7/26 vs. Wichita.

2000

Began season with AAArkansas before his trade to Baltimore on 7/31 in exchange for 1B Will Clark...Combined to bat .266 (97-for-365) with 15 home runs and 47 RBI in 108 games between Arkansas and AA Bowie...His .266 batting average ranked 12th among all AA third basemen...Played exclusively at third base with Bowie, but played third base (46 games), first base (22) and outfield (4) as well as DH (13) with Arkansas...Was batting .221 (42-190) through 6/12 with Arkansas...Hit .355 (38-107) in his next 35 games before being traded to Orioles...Hit .333 (8-24) through his first 7 games for the Baysox...Hit safely in 12 of 18 games with an at-bat for Bowie...Spent two weeks at the Orioles' Fall Instructional League camp in Lakeland, FL following the season...Later played for Bayamon in the Puerto Rican Winter League.

2001

Combined to bat .294 (150-511) between AA Bowie and AAA Rochester, the 4th best batting average among Orioles' minor leaguers...Led Orioles farmhands with 237 total bases and his 16 home runs between the two clubs tied for 2nd in the organization...Was 5th in the Eastern League with a .358 batting average for Bowie before being promoted to Rochester on 5/4...Also was tied for 3rd in EL with 20 RBI at time of his promotion...Was Eastern League's Player of the Week, 4/16-4/22...Hit .453 (24-53) over his last 15 games with Bowie...Had a 10-game hitting streak with Rochester, 6/16-6/25, batting .372 during that stretch...Doubled, homered and drove in 5 runs in 10-3 win over Pawtucket on 7/7, his highest RBI output over the last 5 years...Hit .325 with 4 home runs and 19 RBI in month of August...Ended year with Rochester with a season-high 13-game hitting streak, 8/ 54 (.352) with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 3 homers and 10 RBI...Hit in 20 of his last 21 games...

2002

Split the season between the majors and AAA Rochester, making two stints with the Orioles...Began the season at Rochester and batted .364 in the opening month...Had consecutive 4-hit games, 4/11 and 4/13, with a 3-hit game on 4/14...In all, had hits in 9 consecutive at-bats...Was batting .300 with 8 home runs and 35 RBI with the Red Wings when his contract was purchased from Rochester on 6/16...Had hit safely in 49 of 67 games to that point and had gone consecutive games without a hit only one time...Made his big league debut on 6/16 at Philadelphia, entering at first base in the 7th inning and grounding out in his lone plate appearance...Had a pinch-hit single on 6/18 at Arizona off Brian Anderson for his first major league hit...Collected two hits in his first start on 6/20 at Arizona...Hit safely in 9 of his first 12 games with an atbat, hitting .278 (10-36)...Hit his first career home run on 6/28 at Philadelphia off Randy Wolf...Beginning 7/15, went 4-for-24 (.167) in 12 games before being optioned to Rochester on 8/17 when Mike Bordick was activated from the disabled list...Batted .200 (13-65) in 16 games after returning to the Red Wings...Was recalled by the Orioles at the conclusion of Rochester's season in September...Hit in 6 of 8 games with an at-bat in September, going 8-for-28 (.286) with a home run...On the year, hit safely in 17 of his 23 starts...Played 17 games at first base and 12 games at third base...Started consecutive games in left field, 9/12-9/13...Tied for 2nd on Rochester squad with 8 home runs...Hit a grand slam on 5/5 vs. Indianapolis...At Rochester, appeared in 79 games at third base and 4 at designated hitter...Batted .250 with 4 homers and 15 RBI in 42 games for Bayamon in the Puerto Rican Winter League.

2003

Spent the majority of the season at AAA Ottawa but had three separate stints with the Orioles, appearing in 21 games...Began the season on the Orioles' roster and went 1-for-4 in two games before being optioned to Ottawa on April 5...Hit safely in each of his first 7 games with the Lynx, batting .269 in 14 games before being recalled by the Orioles on April 23...Appeared in 8 games for the Orioles, going 3-for-17 with 8 strikeouts, before being optioned back to Ottawa on May 18...Went 4-for-31 in his first 8 games after returning to the minors...Batted .316 (31-98) over his next 25 games...Was recalled by the Orioles for the 3rd and final time on July 29 when B.J. Surhoff was placed on the disabled list...Had a career-high 3 hits on July 31 at Minnesota, his first start after returning to the team...Played in 11 games, including 5 starts at first base for the injured Jeff Conine in his final stay with the Orioles...Went 9-for-33 (.273) during that time...Was optioned to Ottawa on August 22 and remained there through the end of the season, batting .265 (9-34) in 6 games...In the second game of the International League playoffs, suffered a broken orbital bone after being hit by a ball while covering third base on a stolen base attempt, missing the remainder of the season...Cleared waivers and was outrighted to AAA Ottawa on October 14...Agreed to a minor league contract on October 29 and was assigned to Ottawa...