Where Are They Now Powered by the BK7 Brand: Danny Barnes

by Eddie Lennon

Versatility is the ability to adapt and be useful in a variety of different functions or activities. 

Not just on the pitching mound, but for Danny Barnes, the 2007 Diamond Award winner and former Toronto Blue Jays, becoming versatile has created a unique journey through the different areas of professional baseball. 

After his years in the Port Washington league, he moved on to play for Manhasset High School for four years under coaches Rich Hess and Bruce Minerley. Barnes was known for his incredible work ethic that he developed from his pitching hero, the great Roger Clemens. He also wanted to be a workhorse that batters feared from 60 feet and 6 inches away. 

Danny Barnes is as versatile as it gets. He did not just know how to play the sport, but he has an understanding of the sciences behind the sport and knew how to apply his analytical skillset on the ball field. 

Let’s start from the beginning.

Early Days

During his childhood, there were no youth baseball leagues or town teams in Manhasset. However, that did not stop Barnes from falling in love with the game. Growing up in the mid-90’s and early 2000’s, Barnes said the dominance of both New York team made him fall in love with the sport. From Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Bernie Williams on the Yankees to Mike Piazza and John Franco of the New York Mets, Barnes was obsessed with baseball since he could remember and wanted to play baseball.

Manhasset PAL baseball did not start until 2000. Before then, a baseball future seemed unlikely for any Manhasset athlete. If somebody wanted to play baseball growing up, they had to play in the Port Washington youth league or another league of a neighboring town. And that’s exactly what Barnes did.

His immense dedication partnered with the help of his youth coaches, Manny Alas and Al Durant, made this rarity a reality and Barnes turned into a terrific pitcher at a young age. He was a standout in Port Washington’s little league and on their summer team, The Port Legends. 

Specializing in Infidelity, Child Custody, Due Diligence, Asset, Missing Persons and All other Investigations. NYS Licensed, Bonded, Insured Private Eye. Mention “Axcess” for 10% off your fee

Manhasset HS

Ever since he started training for his sophomore season, Barnes realized that he wanted to be recruited and play college baseball. This is when he started to focus on the big picture

“That is when I really started to prepare to play in college. I knew that everything I did now, would have an impact on my college career,” Barnes said about his initial thoughts on prolonging his baseball career. After games that he pitched, Barnes would return to the school after dinner to run two miles on the track and do a stretching routine. It is a good thing that Manhasset always kept the lights on. 

During the winter, he would run two miles from his house, work out in the gym for about two hours and then run back home. Nothing that he accomplished came easily to him. 

Barnes was a 2006 Diamond Award Finalist and went All-County as a Junior. Heading into his season season, he committed to Princeton University. He chose Princeton for its great facilities, beautiful campus, pristine academics, and the fact that it was close enough for his parents to come to his games.In between seasons, he did not focus on chasing the Diamond award, but he tried to fine-tune all aspects of his game. He got stronger and did everything he could to put his body in its best condition. 

In 2007, the future Princeton Tiger went 8-1 and struck out 103 batters in just 58 innings spanning a 0.80 earned run average during his senior season at Manhasset. Topping out at 91 MPH, Barnes carried Manhasset to a victory in the playoffs, the school’s first since 1986, 21 years. Manhasset was best known as a “lacrosse town”, but Barnes started to change that with his dominance and helped the program gain respect within the county. Barnes was so good that he would attract MLB scouts to his games, wanting to see if he was worth drafting. 

Not only did he win the Diamond Award in 2007, but he was the recipient of the Capozzi Award, which goes to a standout scholar-athlete. Barnes truly put the “scholar” in scholar-athlete. 

Barnes remains the last Manhasset baseball product to drafted at any point in Major League Baseball, but that was not until after his collegiate career. 

Princeton University 

Besides the prestigious academics and beautiful campus, head baseball coach and former MLB catcher Scott Bradley runs a terrific program at Princeton. Barnes saw that Bradley knew how to develop players quickly and that is something that really caught his interest. Bradley was a very enthusiastic coach that players loved to play for. He often worked out and stretched with the team.

As a Freshman, In 2008, Barnes made 12 appearances, four of which were starts, and posted a 2–4 record, 4.58 ERA, and 37 strikeouts in 371⁄3 innings. During his Sophomore year, Barnes tore a nerve in his pitching arm, limiting him to just 82⁄3 innings in 2009. This was his first legitimate encounter with injury. He rehabbed for several months and when he got back he was throwing harder than ever and attracting the attention of MLB scouts. He started to learn how important it was to be able to pitch effectively all different circumstances: starting, closing, long relief, etc. He realized the necessity to be versatile 

 “I looked at the radar gun and I saw 94, and I could not believe it.” Barnes remembered. 

In 2010, Barnes made nine starts for the Tigers, and pitched to a 1–3 record, 5.14 ERA, and 40 strikeouts in 49 innings. The Toronto Blue Jays selected him in the 2010 Major League Baseball draft in the 35th round. Barnes speculated his choice, but ended up listening to his coach, Bradley, and took advantage of the opportunity to start his professional career.

Despite beginning a professional career in the Toronto Blue Jays’ organization, he still managed to graduate from Princeton in 2012, only taking one extra semester, with a degree in economics. His tremendous and tenacious work ethic is demonstrated by him pursuing an educational future, as well as an athletic career. He started to demonstrate and stress the importance of an education to the younger community. He knew he warned to be a baseball player, but also knew that he needed to be prepared for a career after his athletic career concludes. 

“That was one thing I was positive about. No matter what, I would graduate college and have a degree.” Barnes reiterated his importance on his professional development along with his physical and athletic. 

MLB and Ducks

In 2012, he was a member of the high A Dunedin Blue Jays, a minor league affiliate. That season, he was the saves leader in the Florida State League. After two injury ridden seasons, including a torn right rotator cuff and broken foot, he was a member of the 2015 New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the AA affiliate for the Blue Jays. That was the best season was his best yet; he made the AA All-Star team.

On August 2, 2016, the Blue Jays promoted Barnes to the major leagues. He made his MLB debut that night, holding a 2–1 lead with a scoreless inning of relief against the Houston Astros that included strikeouts of Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa. 

Barnes said that multiple guys on the team were shocked that it was his debut. They thought he carried himself like a veteran and were surprised to hear it was his first ever MLB outing. 

Barnes was optioned back to Buffalo on August 9, and recalled by the Blue Jays on September 1. He appeared in 12 games for the Blue Jays in 2016, recording a 3.95 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 132⁄3 innings. On October 8, Barnes was added to the Blue Jays’ American League Division Series roster after Francisco Liriano suffered a concussion.

Barnes made the team to start the 2017 season. He was beyond effective and most important; he was versatile. Barnes also finished the season second among qualified American League relievers in inherited runner efficiency, allowing only 5 of 37 (13.5%) inherited runners to score. On December 6, Barnes was voted the Blue Jays’ Rookie of the Year for 2017 by the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. 

On June 11, 2018, in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Barnes reached both 100 major league games played and 100 career strikeouts. He was placed on the 10-day disabled list with left knee tendinitis on June 22, and was activated on August 1.Barnes appeared in 47 games for the Blue Jays in 2018, and finished the season with a 5.71 ERA. The Blue Jays designated Barnes for assignment on January 29, 2019, and he was out-righted to the Buffalo Bisons on February 5. He became a free agent following the 2019 season.

On March 9, 2020, Barnes signed a minor league deal with the Baltimore Orioles, but was not invited to Major League Spring Training. Barnes did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He became a free agent on November 2, 2020. During this time, Barnes was working on going back to school, realizing that his playing days might be numbered. After speaking with a few different alumni in different front organizations, Barnes applied and was accepted into Columbia University’s Business School where he earned his MBA in December 2022. Barnes did not just do this to get a job within baseball, but to learn.

On June 29, 2021, Barnes signed with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Barnes registered a 2.76 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 16 appearances for the Ducks in 2021. He became a free agent following the season.

Present Day- New York Mets

New York Mets pregame lineup

He attended to gain a better understanding of the predictive analytics upon which nearly all modern industries rely. If  Barnes’ degree did eventually allow him to work for a team, he figured it would be in baseball operations or perhaps even a business role.

As he was considering his post-baseball career options, a friend in the Mets organization recommended that he reach out to them about an analytics positions. This appealed to him. However, he did not get the job.

In the beginning of 2022, he stayed in touch with multiple executives in the Mets’ front office, including their general manager Bill Eppler, who brought up the idea of Barnes joining the organization in the dugout as an assistant coach. Shortly before Spring Training, the Mets officially created a position on Buck Showalter’s staff where Barnes would serve as an Assistant MLB Coach. His duties ranged from managing lineup cards to throwing batting practice to delivering analytics to the team before games. 

Barnes’ journey in Major League Baseball has now been almost 13 years long and he is happy to be in a position where he can combine his analytical mindset and his knowledge of the game to work closely with analysts on models and make better decisions on  and putting them in better situation to succeed using information. He finds this to be beyond intellectually stimulating and will remain in the dugout in the same role in 2023 for the New York Mets as he currently works on the Mets’ Spring Training plan.