A week-and-a-half ago, Ben Nicholson-Smith wrote an excellent post on MLBTradeRumors.com, which happens to be a fantastic website. Titled, The Path From Indy Ball To The Majors, Nicholson-Smith talked about Daniel Nava, a player who started his career in an Independent Baseball league, yet eventually received a promotion to play at the highest level possible – Major League Baseball.
Nava, whose contract was purchased by the Boston Red Sox from Chico, a Golden Baseball League team, back in January 2008, has had success since becoming a part of the Red Sox organization. In fact, he slapped a Grand Slam in his 1st professional MLB at-bat.
Just as Nava did not have an agent when his contract was purchased by the Red Sox, Dynasty client, Pete Parise, was agent-less when his contract was purchased by the St. Louis Cardinals. Parise graduated the University of Pittsburgh as the school’s all-time leader in hits. The Slippery Rock Sliders of the Independent Frontier League did not care, and converted Parise into a pitcher. Roughly two weeks later, in June 2007, Parise became a part of the Cardinals organization. Parise had a strong chance at being promoted to the Major League team this season, but an injury to his shoulder set him back and eventually sat him down for the remainder of the season.
The path from Indy Ball to the Majors is not an easy road, but it has been traveled, and it will be traveled many more times in the future. One player to keep an eye out for is another client of Dynasty, Ryan Platt. Platt actually began his career in MLB affiliated baseball last year, as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers organization. After being cut in the offseason, we found him a home with the Traverse City Beach Bums of the aforementioned Frontier League. He’s only leading the league in wins (seven) and strikeouts (82) and is second in ERA (2.20). Perhaps, in three years, MLBTradeRumors.com will be writing a story about Platt’s perseverance on his way to the Majors.
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