Gregor M. Blanco is a Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

n professional baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 outfielder

Outfielder

Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...

 for the San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

 of Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

.

Career

Blanco signed with the Atlanta Braves on July 4, 2000 as an undrafted free agent

Free agent

In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....

. He beat out Josh Anderson

Josh Anderson (baseball)

Joshua Aaron Anderson is an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed...

 in Spring Training to become the Braves backup outfielder in 2008. He has begun to see regular playing time after Mark Kotsay

Mark Kotsay

Mark Steven Kotsay is an American professional baseball outfielder with the San Diego Padres...

 injured his back on May 26.

Gregor Blanco is the center fielder and leadoff hitter for Tiburones de La Guaira

Tiburones de La Guaira

The Tiburones de La Guaira are a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Based in the city of La Guaira, the Tiburones have won seven national championships since their founding in 1962.-History:...

 in the Venezuelan Winter League, hitting .315 (178 AB) in the 2006-07 season, .345 (229 AB) in the 2007-08 season (finishing 2nd in the MVP Award) and .349 (172 AB) in the 2008-09 season. He was recently called up to the majors because of Jordan Schafer

Jordan Schafer

Jordan James Schafer is a Major League Baseball center fielder for the Houston Astros.-Baseball career:...

's struggles.

In 2008 he had the lowest home run per plate appearance percentage in the majors (among regular home run hitters) (0.2%).http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/2008-ratio-batting.shtml

On July 31, 2010, Blanco was traded to the Kansas City Royals along with Jesse Chavez

Jesse Chavez

Jesse David Chavez is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball. He bats and throws right-handed....

 and Tim Collins

Tim Collins (baseball)

Timothy "Tim" Collins is an American-born professional baseball player currently playing for the Kansas City Royals.-Amateur career:...

 for Kyle Farnsworth

Kyle Farnsworth

Kyle Lynn Farnsworth is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher who is currently the closer for the Tampa Bay Rays.-High school and college:...

 and Rick Ankiel

Rick Ankiel

Richard Alexander Ankiel is a Major League Baseball outfielder who is currently with the Washington Nationals. He bats and throws left-handed....

.

On May 8, 2011, Blanco was traded to the Washington Nationals

Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...

 in exchange for a player to be named later.

Blanco signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

 on November 16, 2011.

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