Former Royals pitcher Octavio Dotel dies at age 51

The former big league closer was killed in a roof collapse.

Former Royals pitcher and 15-year MLB veteran Octavio Dotel has died at the age of 51 according to reporters Héctor Gomez and Mike Rodriguez. Dotel was among 160 people injured in a roof collapse at a nightclub in his native Dominican Republic on early Tuesday morning. He initially survived and was pulled from the rubble but later succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. One report indicates former Royals infielder Esteban Germán and former MLB catcher Henry Blanco were also present at the club, but left early.

Dotel made 758 career appearances with 109 saves in his lengthy career with 13 teams. He originally came up with the Mets but was traded to the Astros where he became one of the highest-strikeout relievers in baseball. In 2004, he was involved in the three-way trade that sent Royals outfielder Carlos Beltrán to Houston, with Dotel sent to Oakland.

He became a free agent after the 2006 season and signed a one-year deal with the Royals, one of the first deals signed by then-Royals general manager Dayton Moore. Dotel had some injury issues, but was effective with a 3.91 ERA and 11 saves in his 24 appearances. He was part of a huge turnaround for the Royals bullpen - they went from the worst bullpen ERA in baseball at 5.41 to a respectable 3.89 in 2007.

He was valuable enough to be traded at the deadline to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Kyle Davies. Dotel retired after the 2013 season having pitched for the Mets, Astros, Athletics, Yankees, Royals, Braves, White Sox, Pirates, Dodgers, Rockies, Blue Jays, Cardinals, and Tigers. Only pitcher Edwin Jackson has pitched for more teams in MLB history.

Dotel is just one of a number of heart-breaking stories from this tragedy and our hearts go out to everyone that has lost a loved one at this time.