José Ariel Contreras Camejo (born December 6, 1971), is a Cuban former professional baseball pitcher, who played in the Cuban National Series (CNS), Major League Baseball (MLB), and internationally for the Cuban national baseball team. Contreras played for Pinar del Río Vegueros of the CNS, and competed for the Cuban national team in the Summer Olympics, the Pan American Games, the Baseball World Cup, and the 1999 exhibition series against the Baltimore Orioles. Recognized as the best Cuban baseball player, Contreras defected from Cuba in 2002. Contreras signed with the New York Yankees of MLB after defecting, and played for them in and . He also played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox (2004–), Colorado Rockies (2009), Philadelphia Phillies (–), and Pittsburgh Pirates (). Cuban career In addition to his time with the Cuban national team, Contreras pitched for the Pinar del Río Vegueros of Cuba's Cuban National Series. In his last season in Cuba (2001–2002), he went 13–4 with a 1.76 ERA and 149 strikeouts. Contreras was named Cuban Athlete of the Year on three separate occasions. In March 1999, Contreras pitched for the Cuban national baseball team against the Baltimore Orioles in an exhibition series at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana. Contreras pitched eight shutout innings and struck out ten. It was then that Major League scouts took notice of the Cuban pitcher. Major League Baseball career New York Yankees Contreras defected from Cuba in October 2002 while pitching for the Cuban national team during the Americas Series in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, leading the Yankees to sign him to a four-year, $32 million deal on December 26, 2002. Contreras went 7–2 and posted a 3.30 ERA in 18 games (nine starts), but he spent two months on the disabled list with a subscapularis strain, had four stops in the minor leagues, and was in and out of the bullpen. As a starter, Contreras was 6–1 with a 2.34 ERA. Out of the bullpen, he was 1–1 with a 7.43 ERA. His best game occurred on September 23 at U.S. Cellular Field, in which he shut out the White Sox for eight innings while striking out nine. Contreras appeared in eight postseason games, pitching 11 innings total, with a 5.73 ERA striking out 17. The Yankees inserted Contreras into the starting rotation from the start of the 2004 camp, but he was inconsistent. Contreras was optioned to the minor