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Manuel De Jesús Alexander (born March 20, 1971) is a Dominican former professional baseball infielder. He has played for the Baltimore Orioles (–, –), New York Mets (), Chicago Cubs (1997–), Boston Red Sox (), Texas Rangers () and San Diego Padres (–). He bats and throws right-handed.
Alexander made his big league debut with the Orioles at the age of 21 on September 18, 1992, during a 12–4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. Alexander appeared as a defensive replacement for Cal Ripken Jr. in the bottom of the seventh inning and Strikeout in his only at-bat of the game.
Alexander made a brief pitching appearance in an April 19, 1996 game against the Texas Rangers. The Orioles entered the bottom of the 8th inning down 10–7. Armando Benítez surrendered a single and two walks before being replaced by Jesse Orosco. Orosco then gave up two walks, six hits, and a sacrifice fly, giving the Rangers a 17–7 lead. With the game now out of reach, manager Davey Johnson brought in Alexander to pitch. Alexander walked the first three batters he faced (all with the bases loaded), allowed a sacrifice fly, walked another hitter, and then surrendered a grand slam to Kevin Elster before finally getting a groundout to end the 16-run inning.
His relative success in the regular season did not translate to post-season glory as Alexander went 0-for-5 in two games during the 1998 National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves.
The Cubs traded Alexander on December 12, 1999, to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Damon Buford.
On June 30, 2000, during a traffic stop, police discovered a bottle of anabolic steroids and two hypodermic needles in a Mercedes-Benz owned by Alexander that had been loaned to team bat boy Carlos Cowart, a high school student. Cowart was arrested for driving without a license and previous charges of driving without a license and failing to stop for police. Massachusetts State Police initially sought steroid possession charges against Alexander, but opted not to after the ballplayer's lawyers provided evidence that at least five people had access to the vehicle. Batboy finds it tough to pick up his life, Stan Grossfeld. Boston Globe (2005-04-27) Alexander's name appeared in the Mitchell Report, released on December 13, 2007, as a result of the incident.
Alexander appeared in 11 games with San Diego in 2005, hitting just .111 (2-for-18) with a double, playing each infield position at least once. He was released at the end of the season, but re-signed less than a month later.
In 2006, Alexander reported late to spring training with the Padres due to visa problems in the Dominican Republic. Upon joining the team, he was optioned to San Diego's Triple-A affiliate, the Portland Beavers. He split the 2006 season between Portland and San Diego, but was released by the Padres on October 12, 2006.
In 2007, Alexander attended spring training with the Padres, but did not make the major league club. Assigned to Triple-A Portland for the third straight season, he played just 7 games before being released.
Alexander became a free agent after the 2009 season. He has not played professionally since.
In 2009, he signed to play with Caffè Danesi Nettuno in the Italian Baseball League.
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