Editor’s note: At the time of writing, Dotel was reportedly alive and taken to the hospital. Hector Gomez and other news outlets are now reporting that Octavio Dotel has sadly passed away. Condolences to his family and friends at this time.
Some scary news coming out of the Dominican Republic this morning, as patrons at the Jet Set nightclub were caught off guard when the roof collapsed early in the Tuesday morning hours. The club, located in Santo Domingo, was busy at the time with over 100+ people inside attending a concert by merengue singer Rubby Pérez, including veteran reliever Octavio Dotel, who spent part of the 2011 season with the Toronto Blue Jays.
It was initially reported that Dotel was missing in the rubble alongside others, but MLB insider Hector Gomez followed up earlier this morning, saying that Dotel was found alive and rescued from the building and taken to the hospital. At the time of writing, over 27 people have been pronounced dead, while more than 120 people have been taken to hospitals in the surrounding area. Search and rescue efforts are still ongoing.
The 51-year old right-hander spent 15 seasons in the big leagues, starting with his New York Mets debut in 1999 through 2013. He suited up for 13 different organizations over his career, the most being with the Houston Astros for five seasons from 2000 to 2004.
During the 2010/2011 offseason, Dotel signed a one-year deal worth $3.5 million with the Blue Jays, which contained a club option for the 2012 season. With Toronto, he earned the 50th save of his career and pitched to a 3.68 ERA across 29 1/3 innings with 30 strikeouts. He would be traded at the deadline alongside Edwin Jackson, Marc Rzepczynski, and Corey Patterson in exchange for Colby Rasmus, P.J. Walters, Trever Miller, and Brian Tallet, with Dotel later earning his only World Series ring.
Through his career, Dotel crafted a 3.78 ERA through 758 games, starting 34 of them early in his big league days. He struck out 1143 batters through 951 innings and won a World Series in 2011 with the St. Louis Cardinals, appearing through the NLCS to the World Series.
He almost won another championship with the Detroit Tigers in 2012, but the Giants would sweep the AL Central squad in four games in the World Series. He would retire in 2014 at the age of 40. Upon retiring, he held the record for most teams played for in the history of Major League Baseball. That record has since been broken by former Blue Jays hurler Edwin Jackson.