Angel Pagan

From BR Bullpen

Angel Anthony Pagan

Bats Both, Throws Right
Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lbs.

School Indian River Community College
High School Republica de Columbia High School
Debut April 3, 2006
Born July 2, 1981 in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico

[edit] Biographical Information

After high school, Outfielder Angel Pagan was the 4th-round pick of the New York Mets in the 1999 amateur draft. When the two parties failed to come to terms, Pagan played in community college for a year, then signed with the Mets a day before they would have lost rights to him. He debuted with the 2000 Kingsport Mets and hit .361/.410/.458 with six steals in seven tries in 19 games.

In '01, Angel hit .298/.365/.351 in 15 outings with the Capital City Bombers but spent most of the year with the Brooklyn Cyclones (.315/.388/.374, 30 for 48 in SB). He led the New York-Penn League in times caught stealing while tying Chris Duffy for the league SB lead. Pagan made the NY-P All-Star team in the outfield and Baseball America rated him the league's #14 prospect.

In 2002, Pagan had a .279/.325/.338 line for the Bombers and stole 52 in 73 tries. With the St. Lucie Mets, he hit .343/.405/.448 in 16 games and stole 10 of 12. He was fifth in the minor leagues in steals overall. The next season, the 21/22-year-old struggled in St. Lucie, only hitting .249/.307/.313 and being thrown out in 15 of 50 steal attempts.

The 2004 season brought Angel to AA, where he had a good year for the Binghamton Mets (.288/.346/.406, 29 SB, only 5 times caught). In '05, the outfielder was a stop shy of the majors, batting .271/.333/.395 for the Norfolk Tides. He fanned 111 times and was caught 15 times in 42 tries to steal but did leg out 10 triples. He tied Tony Pena Jr. for the International League lead in times caught stealing.

The Chicago Cubs purchased Pagan's contract from New York that winter. He played seven games in the minors for Chicago but spent most of the year as a backup corner outfielder and pinch-hitter, batting .247/.306/.394 for the 2006 Cubs.

Pagan hit .250/.310/.414 in 33 games for the Iowa Cubs in 2007 with 6 steals in 7 tries then was called up when Félix Pie was sent down.

Main Sources: 2000-2006 Baseball Almanacs