Eugenio Vélez

Eugenio Vélez Vancomper is a Dominican professional baseball infielder and outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. Vélez's career began when the Toronto Blue Jays signed him on August 27, 2001. He had to beg his mother, who wanted him to be an engineer, to sign for him , but she reluctantly did. He began his professional career with the Pulaski Blue Jays in 2003. After three solid years in the minors, he was selected by the San Francisco Giants from the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2005 minor league Rule 5 Draft. In 2006, the Giants assigned Vélez to the A... Augusta GreenJackets. He had a great year, winning the South Atlantic League's Most Valuable Player award. He won the award by batting .315 with 63 extra base hits, 64 stolen bases and organization-high 91 runs batted in. Next year, he was placed on the Giants 40-man roster. He started the year with the AA Connecticut Defenders, but he played so well he earned a promotion to the AAA Fresno Grizzlies. However, he only played four games with Fresno before the Giants called him up for the first time ever.
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