Billy Traber

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**Billy Traber**

New York Yankees — No. 61
Relief Pitcher
Born: September 18, 1979 (1979-09-18) (age 28) Torrance, California
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
Major League Baseball debut
April 4, 2003 for the Cleveland Indians
Selected MLB statistics (through May 11, 2008)
Win-Loss	12-14
Earned Run Average	5.37
Strikeouts	146
Teams
Cleveland Indians (2003) Washington Nationals (2006-2007) New York Yankees (2008-present)

William Henry (Billy) Traber, Jr. (born September 18, 1979 in Torrance, CA) is a left-handed pitcher for the New York Yankees.

1 Playing Career
2 External links
3 References

[edit] Playing Career

[edit] College

Traber went to Loyola Marymount University, where he was First-Team All-American and West Coast Conference Player of the Year. He set a single-season school strikeout record with 156 strikeouts (in 123 innings pitched).

In 2000, Traber entered the draft and was picked in the first round (16th overall) by the New York Mets.^[1] The Mets were prepared to offer Traber a contract worth $1.3 million, but after an MRI showed some damage to his pitching elbow, he signed a contract worth only $400,000.^[2]

Later that year, the Mets traded Traber to the Cleveland Indians along with Matt Lawton, Alex Escobar, Earl Snyder, and Jerrod Riggan for Roberto Alomar, Mike Bacsik, and Danny Peoples. The deal to get Traber and the rest for Alomar ultimately beat out another that would have traded Alomar straight across for Gary Sheffield.

[edit] Minor league

In 2002, Traber was runner-up minor league pitcher of the year, going 17-5 for the Akron Aeros (AA) and Buffalo Bisons (AAA), and was voted by Baseball America as having the best control and curveball in the league. His numbers were also good enough to give him top-honors for Cleveland pitching prospects.

[edit] Major league

On April 4, 2003, Traber made his Major League debut. Although he started out well (1.59 ERA, 1-0 record in 7 games that spring) -- even pitching a one-hit shutout of the New York Yankees on July 8 -- Traber's season fell apart when elbow problems that haunted him in college and the minors came back to end his '03 campaign and ultimately the entire 2004 season when he needed Tommy John surgery.

During the 2005 offseason, the Boston Red Sox signed Traber. Before playing a single game, the Red Sox placed him on waivers. On November 10, 2004, he was claimed by the Indians off waivers and was signed to a minor league deal on December 22, 2004.^[3]

On December 5, 2007, he was released by the Washington Nationals.

Traber pitches as a Yankee against the Tampa Bay Rays on 4/4/2008.

On January 5, 2008, he signed a minor league deal with the New York Yankees and was invited to spring training. On March 15, he was added to the 40-man roster and he opened the season in the Yankee bullpen. He had a less than stellar start to the season, and was optioned down to AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to make room for Shelley Duncan on the 25-man roster.