Minor League Free Agents
November 3, 2007 by Geoff Young
Filed under Hot Stove
Baseball America has released the list of minor-league free agents for 2007-08. There are 602 players on this list, and the overwhelming majority of them won’t contribute to a big-league club now or ever, but baseball is a funny game and you never know what’s going to happen.
[Update: In my haste to get this posted, I lamely forgot to thank my friend Peter for tipping me to the story.]
The names that show up on this list each year are fascinating. It’s usually a mix of guys who have been toiling in anonymity for years (Andy Abad, Michel Hernandez, Ken Huckaby, Dave Matranga, Kevin Reese, Jim Rushford) and once-hot prospects whose stars have long since dimmed (Tony Blanco, Joe Borchard, Bobby Brownlie, Ryan Christianson, Brandon Claussen, Vince Faison, Jesse Foppert, Chris George, Tyrell Godwin, Mike Hinckley, Ben Howard, Jackson Melian, Clint Nageotte, Vladimir Nunez, Matt Riley, Ed Rogers, Dane Sardinha, Jason Stokes, Dennis Tankersley, Jerome Williams).
Every now and then, there’s someone you can’t believe is still plugging away at the dream (Manny Alexander, Carlos Almanzar, Kevin Barker, Rheal Cormier, Gookie Dawkins, Erubiel Durazo, Felix Fermin, Ken Harvey, Luther Hackman, Lou Merloni, Chad Mottola, Chan Ho Park, Curtis Pride, Scott Sauerbeck, John Wasdin, Rico Washington,).
Take a good look at those ex-prospects; it’s a sobering experience. These were not marginal talents. Guys like Borchard, Foppert, George, Melian, Riley, Tankersley, and Williams were all highly regarded at one point.
Baseball is a tough gig. Most people don’t make it…
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Felix Fermin actually managed the Mexican League Monterrey Sultans to the LMB championship last year. Didn’t know he was a free agent in the MiLB system. I guess that made him a player/manager? More power to him.
Interesting. When I saw his name, I just about fell out of my chair.
Look for Dan Ortmeier on the free agent list. The Giants illegally hid him off list, until called on the carpet for it. Dan is big, fast, and strong and hit .287 with 6HRs in 157 AB in 2007. Then the Giants wouldn’t even play him in 2008, and he rode the big league pine. Is a great 4th OF prospect.