Danny Almonte - Aftermath

Aftermath

After his father's visa expired, Danny remained in New York under the guardianship of Rolando Paulino. He played, along with four of his former teammates, in the 2004 Public Schools Athletic League championship. In early 2005, Danny moved to the Miami area, where he did not play baseball due to residency requirements. The following year he returned to New York, where he pitched for James Monroe High School in the Bronx.

In September 2005, Almonte was rumored to have been married to an older woman. This allegation was later confirmed in May 2006 as Almonte proclaimed he was married to 30 year-old Rosy Perdomo.

While in the National Amateur Baseball Federation (NABF) wood-bat summer league, he played for Youth Service.

There had been some reports that he would be selected in the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft, though this did not happen. He attended a Major League tryout in October 2006. After the draft he said he would play baseball for a college in New Mexico.

In 2007, Almonte joined the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League, an independent minor-league circuit--and thus forfeited his collegiate eligibility. He pitched his first game on May 27, 2007 against the Evansville Otters. The Miners lost 3–2. He was released on June 30, 2007. His record was 0–1, with a 5.29 ERA in six appearances. By at least one account, his poor performance was due to him being out of shape at the time.

In fall 2007, Almonte enrolled as a freshman in Western Oklahoma State College, a community college in Altus, Oklahoma, where he pitched and played right field for the Pioneers. Almonte and the Pioneers were ranked fourth in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division 2 poll and advanced to the NJCAA D-2 World Series. Almonte finished as one of the top hitters in JUCO baseball, hitting .497 with 14 home runs and going 7–1 with one save as a pitcher. In his second year at the school, Almonte hit .472, with 18 home runs, and had a pitching record of 9-0. Despite those statistics, however, he was not selected by any Major League Baseball organization in the Rule 4 draft.

Forced to give up pitching due to a sore arm, Almonte played semi-pro baseball in the summer of 2009 as an outfielder. As of 2010, Almonte had returned to the Bronx, where he was serving as a volunteer assistant coach for his high school alma mater's baseball team. At that time, he was reportedly no longer with his wife, though he would not discuss details of the relationship. Almonte indicated an intent to return to semi-pro baseball that summer, after the end of the school year, but said that he no longer held expectations of some day playing in the Major Leagues.