Obscure Signings For The Week

For every Sabathia or Furcal signing, there are dozens of signings of fringe players struggling to keep their slight major league careers going. Here are a few of this week's:

Jody Gerut - Free Agent, signed by the Padres
Gerut, a centerfielder, was signed in the second round by the Rockies in 1998 after playing for Stanford. Now 32, Gerut first broke into the majors in 2003 for the Cleveland Indians. He had a nice rookie year there where he hit 22 homers and 33 doubles, knocked in 75 runs in only 480 at bats while batting .279. The following year, his average fell to .252 in 481 at bats while his homer total halved to 11. Gerut played for three teams in 2005, starting with the Indians who traded him to the Cubs. He went 1 for 14 there and the Cubs released him. Gerut then had 18 at bats for Pittsburgh and had only two hits there. He didn't play at all in the majors in 2006 and 2007.

He suddenly appeared again in the majors in 2008 with the Padres and had a nice little year, batting .296 and hitting 14 homers for the Padres in only 100 games. He was eligible for arbitration, but the Padres gave him a one year contract.

Greg Norton - Free Agent, signed by the Atlanta Braves.
Transactions that list a player's position as "PH" for pinch hitter automatically qualifies a player as an obscure signing. First of all, only a National League team would sign a "pinch hitter." But usually, pinch hitters are bad field/good hit sort of players. Norton doesn't qualify there.

Norton has played parts of twelve years after being drafted in the 2nd round by the Chicago White Sox after his college career ended at Oklahoma. The 36 year old, Norton, has only once had more than 300 at bats in a season and has a lifetime batting average of .252 and a lifetime OPS of .776. Ouch.

You have to wonder how a player with those kinds of numbers hangs around that long. But great for Norton, who has another year and another $800,000 salary.

Chris Bootcheck - Minor League Contract, Pittsburgh Pirates
Bootcheck even has a perfect name for an obscure signing. But it shouldn't have turned out this way. Bootcheck is a former first round pick by the Anaheim Los Angeles California Angels, or whatever they are calling themselves this year. But he has never panned out for them. He had cups of coffee for the Angels in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2008. His only full year was out of the bullpen for the Angels in 2007 where he compiled a hefty 4.77 ERA in 51 appearances. His lifetime totals? How about 89 earned runs given up in 132 and 2/3 innings. Yeesh. Perhaps the Pirates can find a genie in a bottle. Lord knows they need one.

Terry Tiffee - Minor League Contract, Phillies
The Fan is a pretty avid devourer of daily box scores and has to admit that this transaction wire entry is the first time Terry Tiffee has ever been heard of. Incredibly, the first/third baseman has played parts of four years for the Twins (who drafted him in the 26th round in 1999) and Dodgers. Hardly lighting his brief times in the majors on fire, his lifetime totals to date equal 253 at bats with a batting average of .226, an on base percentage of .276 and an OPS of .626. Oh baby! Ironically enough, the transaction wire also lists Tiffee as a "PH."

Such players serve as a reminder of just how difficult it is to establish a game at the highest level. Sure, every year there are two or three big name signings of elite players. But on the other end of the spectrum are guys just trying to hold on or find another job and somehow stretch their career and their dreams out another year. With five years needed for a pension, these players deserve a little space in the blog sphere. Good luck fellas.