Picking from the scrapheap in baseball is a lot like picking your nose—while you aren’t entirely sure what’s going to come out, you’re fairly certain that it won’t be pretty.
It’s a place where players far removed from their former glory wind up, desperately hoping for one more chance to occupy a roster spot and extend their playing careers. If this were college, we’d see general managers making the dreaded “Walk of Shame” back from the pile after inking someone to a contract.
Nobody wants to be associated with it.
Yet year after year, a handful of players whose playing careers were left for dead do just enough in spring training to earn a spot on a team’s 25-man roster.
This season won’t be any different.
Let’s take a look at the small group of players inked to minor league contracts with an invitation to spring training who have a realistic shot of breaking camp with their new clubs.