RP Andy Cantrell must really enjoy living out of boxes as the much traveled Pitcher is on the move again adding to his frequent flyer miles.
Andy's journey began in 2017 when, as a 15 year old Independent League player, he signed a minor league contract with the Calgary Marauders. Cantrell had middling success in the Marauders minor league system but he didn't stand out from the crowd. Then in 2019 Cantrell was included in a 5 for 1 deal, being sent to the Birmingham Bandits along with SP Russell Martin, SS John Moran, SP Jonathan Bowen and CL Juan Rodriguez. Six months after the trade Cantrell suffered the dreaded Torn UCL and had to have Tommy John Surgery and wouldn't pick up a baseball again until late 2020. Cantrell would continue to linger in the lower minors and struggled with nagging injuries that stifled his development and frustrated management.
In 2022, Cantrell was again involved in a trade, this time being sent by Birmingham to Las Vegas along with LF Luis Medina in exchange for SP Steve Hoffman. Cantrell was sent to the Hustlers Winter League team, the Kingston Legends, to work on changing his mechanics and helped them 2022 MBBA Fall League round 3. That would be the only success he was able to achieve with Las Vegas and he was given his unconditional release in 2024. Two weeks later he signs a minor league contract with his old team, The Birmingham Bandits until the next season when he is, yet again, packaged in a trade. This time he was sent with Steve Jefferson, Octavio Corral, Carlos Olvera and Will Franklin for Juan Lucero and Emilio Nabo.
Many people do not appreciate the journey a minor league baseball player goes through in the hopes of realizing a dream he has had since childbirth, but for some of those in the fraternity of professional sports the journey is all they will ever have and they should relish every second of it.
