page_title: Francisco Cordero
section_title: Texas Rangers
hierarchical_section_title: Francisco Cordero / Baseball career / Texas Rangers
caption_attribution_description: Image of Francisco Cordero before warming up in St. Louis move approved by User:Common Good
context_page_description: Francisco Javier Cordero is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays, and Houston Astros from 1999 through 2012, often serving as the closer. On June 1, 2011, Cordero recorded his 300th career save with the Reds, becoming only the 22nd player to reach that mark. He completed his major league career with 329 saves and is a three-time MLB All-Star.
  Cordero is frequently referred to by his nickname, CoCo, which is a combination of the last two letters of his first name and the first two letters of his last name. Cordero's arsenal featured a mid-90s fastball and wipe-out slider. He attended Colegio Luz Arroyo Hondo High School in the Dominican Republic.
context_section_description: Cordero made his debut with the Texas Rangers on April 4, 2000, as he pitched ​1 ¹⁄₃ innings, allowing two runs, however, earned the victory as Texas defeated the Chicago White Sox 12–8 at The Ballpark in Arlington.  He finished the season going 1–2 with a 5.35 ERA, pitching ​77 ¹⁄₃ innings with the Rangers.
  Injuries slowed Cordero down in the 2001 season, as he appeared in only three games with Texas, going 0–0 with a 3.86 ERA.  With the Oklahoma RedHawks of the Pacific Coast League, Cordero appeared in 12 games, going 0–0 with a 0.59 ERA and earning six saves in ​15 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched, striking out 20 hitters.
  Cordero spent part of the 2002 season with Oklahoma, playing in 11 games, going 0–2 with a 5.84 ERA, while earning two saves.  In Texas, Cordero earned his first career MLB save on June 19, 2002, striking out all three batters he faced in the tenth inning in a 7–4 win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.  He had a solid season with the Rangers, going 2–0 with a 1.79 ERA, while earning 10 saves. Cordero began the 2003 season as the set-up man for closer Ugueth Urbina, however, the Rangers traded Urbina to the Florida Marlins in July, and Cordero became the Rangers' closer. Cordero earned 12 saves during the last two months of the season.  Overall, Cordero was 5–8 with a 2.94 ERA and 15 saves in 73 games pitched.
  In 2004, Cordero was the Rangers closer for the entire season for the first time in his career, and he had an all-star season, going 3–4 with a 2.13 ERA and earning 49 saves, second only to Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees in the American League, who had 53 saves.  Cordero was named to the 2004 MLB All-Star Game at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, but did not appear in the game. Cordero had another solid season in 2005, going 3–1 with a 3.39 ERA and 37 saves for the Rangers in 69 games pitched.
  He began the 2006 season as the Rangers closer, however, Cordero struggled early in the season, as at the end of April, despite a 3–2 record, Cordero had an ERA of 11.45.  He lost his job as the closer to Akinori Otsuka, and on July 28, 2006, Texas traded Cordero, Kevin Mench, Laynce Nix and Julian Cordero to the Milwaukee Brewers for Nelson Cruz and Carlos Lee.  Cordero had a 7–4 record with a 4.81 ERA and six saves at the time of the trade.
caption: Cordero with the Brewers in 2007
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