Final list of 5
Javier Herrera – Round 49, pick 10 of the 2007 CPL draft. Free Agent signed out of Puerto Rico (undisclosed amount) in 2001 by the Oakland Athletics. Already a 5 year minor league veteran by the time of the draft, he was still only 21 years old and had worked his way up to AA. He broke the top 100 on BA’s list in 2005 (#68) and 2006 (#74), and ranked on Oakland’s top prospect list from 2004 through 2008 (#28, #3, #2, #6, #9 respectively). Certainly a player of pedigree, and one deserving of being drafted in 2007, but unfortunately, the red flags were already there. A (2 week) suspension in 2005 for performance enhancing drugs, and an elbow injury in 2006 that required TJ surgery and hamstring issues in 2007 derailed what had been a promising start. By 2009 he had shifted to independent ball. First with the Golden Year in 2010, a mysterious year away from baseball in 2011, and one season in the Frontier League (2012). before doing apparently just enough to get signed by the Giants for three years (2013-2015). After his Giants stint he went back to independent ball playing in the Canadian-American Association from 2015 through 2018. After 2018, he came back to the Athletics and became a coach in their ASL affiliate. He apparently was on track to move up to A ball coaching before COVID derailed that trajectory. He still lists himself as a coach on his LinkdIn but it doesn’t appear that he’s updated it since 2020, so hard to say how reliable it is (https://www.milb.com/news/2020-field-staff-announced-311415376). Following up on subsequent coaching announcements, he hasn’t been listed since the 2019 post announcing his 2020 coaching job. No other mention on the internet about where he’s been since COVID. An unfortunately fitting end to a career marred by unfortunate circumstances.
Edgar Martinez – Round 50, pick 2 of the 2007 CPL draft. International Free Agent out of Venezuela in 1998 (undisclosed amount). After 5 very unremarkable seasons in the minors (career .223 BA, .580 OPS), the Red Sox switched him from catching to pitching and discovered he was not entirely useless on the diamond. Actually a decent catcher (best defensive catcher in the Bos organization in 2004), the conversion was still necessary to up his pedigree and it did. Breaking into the Red Sox top prospects for the first time in 2006 (#15) and 2007 (#26). Ultimately, it wasn’t enough. His final minor league career line was too few K’s, too many BB’s and despite decent run prevention numbers he left for more familiar grounds. He would end up playing in the Venezuelan League, Atlantic League, North American League, American Association and the Mexican League before it was all over. In 2015 at the age of 33 he packed it up for good after 753 professional innings pitched and over 1,000 at bats. Due to the common nature of his name, it’s hard to find anything on this particular Edgar Martinez after that point. So, the only personal note that can be scraped forever more will be that he lacked conditioning in 2007.
Johnathan Johnson – Round 50, pick 4 of the 2007 CPL draft. Either drafted in 1995 (Round 1, pick 7, Texas Rangers) or I simply can’t find the intended draftee. The reason I’m not sure if it’s the correct John Johnson is because in the CPL draft he was taken as an OF, but he was only ever an RP. I’m going to assume that this is just a draft time error for a player who was eventually cut anyways and continue on ahead. Interesting footnote, also drafted by the Expos in 1992 (34th round). Developed as a starter throughout the minor leagues, it only took three seasons for John John to make his MLB debut. Unfortunately for him, he was transitioned to the bullpen by the next season. Even more unfortunately, it didn’t really stick. He would spend the next six seasons in an up-and-down role essentially as a fresh arm for mop up duty in the biggest blowouts of every season. In the end, he would end up with over 1000 IP, but nearly as many BBs as Ks at the pro level. What exactly he did since retiring in 2007 is not entirely clear, but according to one source he has been coaching a bunch, so it’s probably best to assume that. Since 2020, John John has been coaching at Columbia International University, to what appears to be some modest success (https://ciurams.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/jonathan-johnson/240). He has helped get 33 kids drafted into the MLB, has three kids, and established a Baseball Ministry in 1996 to specifically proselytize Cuba.
Maxwell Sapp – Round 50, pick 10 of the 2007 CPL draft. Drafted in 2006, Round 1, pick 23 by the Houston Astros. Ranked top prospect in the organization in 2007 (#9) and 2008 (#17). Tragically, he would develop Meningitis, requiring him to be put into a coma for 17 days. He retired shortly afterwards due to complications (https://www.orangeobserver.com/news/2022/oct/19/former-mlb-player-shares-love-of-the-game/, https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-506840). After a 7 year absence from the sport (presumably re-learning how to walk), he opened Max Sapp Baseball Academy near his home town of Orlando, Florida. After suffering from a seizure a week for the first few years after his diagnosis, he now goes years between them, but still has to manage his symptoms (As of 2022). A truly remarkable story that elevates a simple “late round pick that never contributed to the pros” to a human story about struggling through adversity.
Joe Gaetti – Round 50, pick 12 of the 2007 CPL (Mr. Irrelevant). Drafted in 2003, Round 12, pick 10 by the Colorado Rockies. Had over 2,000 minor league at bats getting as high as AAA before taking a few hundred whacks in independent ball and calling it a career at age 28. Made the top 30 in the Rockies organization in 2006 (#29). Son of Gary Gaetti, but clearly did not have his fathers skills. There isn’t much on the exploits of the junior Gaetti after his retirement, but apparently he did manage to have a kid with Gladden. Not the other twins legend, but the daughter of the same legend (https://www.twinkietown.com/2017/3/1/14777814/minnesota-twins-dan-danny-gladden-and-gary-gaetti-had-a-baby). Essentially, all other news and articles end up coming back to Gary, so I’m afraid Joe’s life trajectory just isn’t a frequent topic of conversation.
Alright, that’s all from me. I may circle back to the original 5 and re-do them since the first ones were particularly rough.
And, I’ll be keeping an eye on Verlander, Hill and McCutchen (as I’m sure we all well be) to see how wins the longevity battle.
Happy New Year!
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