Paul White and Jorge L. Ortiz

USA TODAY Sports

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras and one of the top prospects of the past several seasons, died today in an auto accident in his native Dominican Republic, Dominican police confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.

Taveras' girlfriend also died in the crash, according to police in Puerto Plata.

The Dominican newspaper Listin Diario said the name of his girlfriend is Edilia Arvelo. She was 18.

"We are all stunned and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of one of the youngest members of the Cardinals family," Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said in a statement. "Oscar was an amazing talent with a bright future who was taken from us well before his time. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends tonight."

"I simply can't believe it," Mozeliak said. "I first met Oscar when he was sixteen years old and will forever remember him as a wonderful young man who was a gifted athlete with an infectious love for life who lived every day to the fullest."

Lieutenant Junior Lopez Reyes of the Puerto Plata police confirmed Taveras and his girlfriend had died.

Taveras was heading from Jamao to his hometown of Sosua, near Puerto Plata in the Atlantic Coast of the Dominican Republic.

Lopez Reyes did not know yet the details of the accident.

"We're still investigating at the scene. We've had some heavy rainfall here lately. It might have contributed to the accident.''

Bryan Mejia, Taveras' agent, told reporters that Taveras and his girlfriend died in the accident. No other details were immediately available.

Taveras, 22, debuted with the Cardinals this season and batted .239 in 80 games, finishing the season as a part-time outfielder.

The Cardinals were planning for him to compete with Randal Grichuk for the starting right field job but wanted him to focus on improving his conditioning during this offseason.

The next-to-last hit of his career was a seventh-inning, pinch-hit game-tying home run off San Francisco's Jean Machi in Game 2 of this year's National League Division Series, a game the Cardinals eventually won on Kolten Wong's walk-off homer in the ninth.



"All of us throughout Major League Baseball are in mourning this evening, shocked by the heartbreaking news of the accident involving Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras and his girlfriend in the Dominican Republic," MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "Oscar, a young member of the Baseball family, was full of promise and at the dawn of a wonderful career in our game, evident in his game-tying home run against the Giants exactly two weeks ago."



"We are very saddened to learn of the news that a car accident has claimed the life of Oscar Tavares and his girlfriend in the Dominican Republic," MLB Players Association director Tony Clark said in a statement. "Oscar had a very promising future, on and off the field, and this news is heartbreaking on many levels. It's never easy to lose a member of our fraternity, and to lose one so young is devastating news. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of both, as well as to the St. Louis Cardinals organization and Oscar's many fans in the United States and the Dominican Republic."

Over the past several years, he had been ranked as the second- and third-best prospect in the minor leagues by Baseball American, mlb.com and Baseball Prospectus. He was a .320 hitter over six minor league seasons, including .386 as a teenager in the Class A Midwest League in 2011.

GALLERY: The career of Oscar Taveras



