Released

There's always a harsh reality when playing pro ball, is that one day it may be all gone, and in the some cases, sooner rather then later. This week in camp they started to release players, one of the unlucky players to be released was my locker buddy, Kyle Orr. This was Kyle's second chance at pro ball as he was with the Dodgers the last 4 years as a position player. He was given a chance by the Twins to become a pitcher, but even after a few good outings, the Twins had told him there wasn't a spot for him in the organization. Kyle was a great guy, and I hope he finds another place to continue playing.

Kyle's and my name tags above our locker that we shared

It's also been a tough Spring Training for a bunch of Australians, with the number of releases already at 7 with less then a week of Spring Training to go. The Australian players released were -

Nathan Driessen - Cincinatti Reds
Alessio Angelucci - San Diego Padres
Justin Huber - Minnesota Twins
Kyle Perkins - New York Yankees
Trent Baker - Cleveland Indians
Josh Wells - Toronto Blue Jays
Cody Hams - Chicago Cubs

Having played with and against all of these players, I know how talented they are, and they are still so young, hopefully they realise this isn't the end of their career, get past the disappointment quickly, and find another place to play professional baseball.