George Arias
PositionThird baseman
Birth dateMarch 12, 1972 (age 54)
Birth placeTucson, Arizona, U.S.[1]
BatsRight
ThrowsRight
DebutleagueMLB
DebutdateApril 2
Debutyear1996
DebutteamCalifornia Angels
FinalleagueMLB
FinaldateJuly 28
Finalyear1999
FinalteamSan Diego Padres
Debut2leagueNPB
Debut2dateApril 1
Debut2year2000
Debut2teamOrix BlueWave
Final2leagueNPB
Final2dateJuly 30
Final2year2006
Final2teamYomiuri Giants
StatleagueMLB
Stat1labelBatting average
Stat1value.238
Stat2labelHome runs
Stat2value14
Stat3labelRuns batted in
Stat3value55
Stat2leagueNPB
Stat21labelBatting average
Stat21value.259
Stat22labelHome runs
Stat22value161
Stat23labelRuns batted in
Stat23value436
Teams

George Alberto Arias (born March 12, 1972) is an American former baseball player in Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball.

Career

Arias was drafted by the California Angels in the seventh round of the 1993 Major League Baseball draft after graduating from the University of Arizona. He made his major league debut in , and played 84 games, hitting .238 with seven home runs and 28 RBI. He went back and forth between the majors and minor leagues after that.

In August 1997, the Angels traded Arias to the San Diego Padres as the player to be named later in the earlier trade that sent Ryan Hancock and Stevenson Agosto to the Padres for Rickey Henderson.[2] He played with the Padres until , before joining the Orix BlueWave in Japan.

Arias became the regular third baseman in his first year with the BlueWave, and was the team's best power hitter, hitting 38 home runs in . He was a slow but solid fielder, and had a strong arm. Arias was a very streaky hitter, and had a very low batting average with runners in scoring position. He signed with the Hanshin Tigers in , and hit 38 home runs with 107 RBI in , contributing to the Tigers' league championship. He also won a Golden Glove award at first base, and the Best Nine award that year. He left the Tigers after , as they dropped him as they were making a bid to sign Yokohama BayStars foreign star Tyrone Woods, before the Chunichi Dragons got him, and signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals in , but was cut at the start of the season. He played in the Mexican League for the rest of the year.

Arias was signed by the Yomiuri Giants in June , and made his debut with the Giants in July as an outfielder. He was unable to repeat his previous success, and was demoted to the minors after playing 17 games. He hit only .167 his last year, and was cut at the end of 2006.

In 639 games in NPB, Arias hit .259 with 169 home runs and 436 RBI.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Major League Baseball players born in Arizona". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
  2. ^ Guiremand, Steve (April 9, 1998). "Star's Arias has big dreams". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved April 7, 2024.