From Opening Day to August 31st, there are only 750 employed Major League baseball players (plus disabled list players) at any one time. That breaks down to 150 starting pitchers, 210 relief pitchers, and 390 position players.
There’s only 30 starting centerfielder jobs in the MLB and Denard Span wants one of those jobs. His resumé is written and his issue is proving that he can do the job at the highest levels due to previous injuries to his hip and abdomen. The word that came out last week was that Span auditioned for teams and today Span put out a short video on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/thisisdspan/status/684047970493403136
On the surface, this video is very nice for what it is. It’s 8 seconds of video. Will a GM take this as concrete proof that Span is healthy? Denard Span knew something was wrong when he came off the DL on August 25 2015 although the fanbase didn’t know 2 days later his season was over. On August 26th, Span went 2-5 and everything looked good but Span was playing through pain and a newly diagnosed hip injury which would require surgery. Jumping hurdles is great if it told the full story.
Looking around the Majors, the Cubs and Nats are the main two teams seeking a healthy and productive leadoff centerfielder. There are other teams that would like an inexpensive upgrade at centerfield and then there are some other teams that would consider Span for a backup role or even as a corner outfielder if the price came down considerably. Span has competition in players like Dexter Fowler and Gerardo Parra as well as possible trades.
Orioles like Denard Span, but won’t commit beyond one year https://t.co/VCi51w8j4l
— HardballTalk (@HardballTalk) January 3, 2016
When Span switched to the Boras Corporation, he did it to maximize his employment opportunities. This video might have been a suggestion from his agent, and not sure if there are more videos to follow.
Scott Boras says teams have watched Denard Span work out in person, expects Span to sign “in the near future.” @MLBNetworkRadio @FOXSports
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 29, 2015
You could apply this same principle to Ian Desmond finding a job. The musical chairs game is in play and not every player will get a chair. The consolation prize is not optimum but getting a job becomes an audition for the next contract.
More to follow…….
