Here's the thing about minor-league free agents: if you've heard of any particular MiLFA (some terms just shouldn't be acronymized) minor-league free agent, odds are he's a washed-up marginal major-leaguer who can't bring himself to concede that his glory days are over. Or, occasionally, a highly-touted prospect who flamed out (or rusted) early.
And, hey, who can blame 'em? We all like to think there's that late-in-life shot we have to finally make it big, in whatever field of endeavor. And this forced obsolescence comes earlier in life for professional athletes than it does for other folks. It's hard to face career mortality at age 30.
What's more, it's a really thin line (a semi-permeable membrane, sometimes) separating steady employment at the left-most edge of the MLB talent curve from the self-delusion of AAAA status. All of these guys are in the top percentile of baseball players in the world (or at least in the Western Hemisphere). The absolute difference in talent at this level doesn't add up to a whole lot.
In any event, those are the thoughts running through my head as I peruse this list.
Now, obviously, someone like grover or PT or devo or David Forst is going to be able to glance at this pile of poo and pick out the few undigested kernels of corn. But a primate like myself, all I see is the human waste.
He's Still Alive?!?
Pokey Reese, Eric Milton, Ben Broussard, Jeff Weaver, John Halama, Morgan Ensberg, Todd Linden
One-Hit Wonder
Bret Batflip Boone
Hey, Didn't We ...
Brant Colamarino, Kiko Calero, John Wasdin, Ron Flores D’Angelo Jimenez, Mike Rouse, Ruddy Lugo, Marcus McBeth, Keith Ginter
Wait: Who? Aw, Darn.
Rob Cosby
This has been your "There but for the grace of God ..." public-service post for the offseason. Count your blessings, folks. Now is the Ginter of our discount tent.
