After painful journey, Caballero can say: 'I made it'

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- José Caballero was 7 years old, playing on a state team of 10-year-olds, when he realized he wanted to be a professional baseball player.

“I kind of found my path,” Caballero said. “As a kid, that was my dream.”

But the road has not been as straight or smooth as Caballero imagined back then. There were stops and starts, injuries that required surgery on both hands and both legs, challenging moments in his transition from his native Panama to college baseball and a lot of obstacles thrown in his way.

But here he is now, at 27 years old, with the opportunity of his dreams before him. After breaking into the Majors with the Mariners last year, Caballero is poised to be the Rays’ starting shortstop to begin the season.

“I had one plan. If it didn’t work out, well, after that, I’d probably have to find something else,” Caballero said. “But I didn’t have anything else in mind. I was trying to be a professional baseball player.”

Growing up in Las Tablas, the capital of Panama’s Los Santos province, Caballero played soccer, volleyball, basketball and baseball. He expected to sign as an international amateur when he was 16 years old, only to be struck by bad injury luck for the first time.

While attempting to field a fly ball at shortstop, he and the center fielder collided. Caballero said he broke the tibia and fibula in his left leg. He had surgery immediately but required two additional followup procedures. Caballero eventually returned to the field, but any scouts who had been interested were scared off by the idea of a 16-year-old with three left leg surgeries on his record.

Living at home with his parents, Caballero said he traveled to the United States, Mexico and Guatemala for tryouts. He played well in an under-18 tournament in Mexico and thought some teams were getting close to offering him a contract, only to have his injury history dash his hopes again.

Finally, someone gave him a chance. But not with an MLB organization.

Jeff Johnson has been the head baseball coach at Chipola College in Marianna, Fla., since 1997. His program has produced more than a dozen big leaguers, including José Bautista, Russell Martin and Adam Duvall. One day, Johnson got a call from a former college teammate, Lauren Flores, who lives in Panama.

Flores had coached Caballero during the under-18 tournament in Mexico and wanted to help. So Flores called Johnson and sent him video of the athletic shortstop. Johnson agreed to bring Caballero aboard in 2015 and realized immediately he might be something special.

“He’s just infectious with his personality and the way he plays. Everybody loves him. There’s never a day that he’s taking a day off,” Johnson said. “It’s hard on Day 1, but you see the skills and the talent level. … He was a good player that turned into a great player.”

There was one issue: Caballero spoke no English when he arrived in Marianna. He had trouble communicating for his first four months on campus, but he was determined to learn the language. He asked a lot of questions, became a little more proficient every semester, and now he’s fluent.

“The human mentality is to adjust to anything that comes at you, and I did my best,” he said.

Caballero also thrived on the field. He led Chipola to a junior college national championship in 2017, was named the tournament’s MVP then went to the D-backs in the seventh round of the ’17 Draft. Caballero was dealt from Arizona to Seattle for Mike Leake at the '19 Trade Deadline, but injuries once again interrupted his ascent.

“I think I hurt every single part of my body,” Caballero said. “I’ve had surgery on all my extremities.”

In 2019, Caballero had surgery on his left hand (fractured fourth metacarpal after being hit by a pitch) and his right hand (fractured fourth metacarpal while trying to steal a base). He tore his right ACL while playing winter ball in 2020, underwent surgery in early ’21 and didn’t get back on the field until that August.

Then came a fractured hamate in Caballero's left hand in April 2022 and a re-fractured fourth metacarpal in his right hand after he returned in June. Add all that to his left leg surgeries as a teenager, and indeed, there is not a limb on Caballero’s body that hasn’t gone under the knife. As a result, Caballero has spent parts of six seasons in the Minor Leagues but played only 238 games.

How did he push through all those setbacks?

“Same mentality,” Caballero said. “One goal, and that was to chase my dream to make it to the big leagues.”

“He’s a special kid,” Johnson added. “It shows you what he’s got in there. All he needs is opportunity.”

Caballero finally got one last year. After playing for Panama in the World Baseball Classic during Spring Training, Caballero debuted for the Mariners on April 15. He hit .221 with a .663 OPS, showed his speed on the basepaths with 26 steals and played slick defense around the infield, producing 2.4 WAR in 104 games.

The Rays had Caballero on their radar prior to last year’s Trade Deadline but didn’t need another infielder at that point. With Wander Franco’s future uncertain and Taylor Walls unavailable for Opening Day following offseason hip surgery, they dealt Luke Raley to Seattle in January to land Caballero, with the intent of making him their Opening Day shortstop.

It wasn’t the path he envisioned, but it’s still the same dream.

“I made it. After everything, I made it. It was worth it, for sure,” Caballero said. “This is what I enjoy. This is what brings me joy. This is what I’ve been working for.”