Byline: Max Offen Sichtlich
Off Topic
Veteran FA Caught in Minor League Limbo
October 28, 2055
“I want to be up in the big leagues,” Vasco Fonzarelli says from the deck of what we’ll charitably call his off-season houseboat. Frustration is heavy in his gaze, or maybe that’s just the setting sun glimmering off the ripples of the bay he calls home. “I think I can help a team.”
That’s probably not wrong.
At least the Mad Popes thought so earlier this season when they made him one of four players they gathered up late in the year. But he’s the only one who hasn’t seen time with the big league club. One is tempted to say that his .313 OBP while in AAA is a major part of that problem. The Fonz, as they say, can blast off with the best of them, having pelted 108 homers in a several season BBA career that has seen him make (and spend most of) $5M. He’s also a solid defender, something he can do at three positions. He of course, suggests that he could manage shortstop, too, he just hasn’t been given the free reign to show the world.
At question is whether he’ll get a chance to show the world outside Black Hills AAA club come 2056 or not.
“I’m willing to go play anywhere,” Fonzerelli says ais he’s fiddling with the jib or the main sail or whatever the hell all those ropes are. He’s going to take me out on the water for a spin, which I think he offered only so he could have a captive audience for his diatribe. “Send me to Brooklyn, you know? Or Atlantic City. Or even Yellow Springs, for crying out loud. I don’t care. I just want to play.”
One gets the feeling there's a financial aspect to his desperation.
Unfortunately, by contract, the guy is apparently stuck in the Sacramento organization, and at present the team has not shown any inclination to trade him.
“We like Vasco,” said GM Ron Collins. “And our scouts all say he’s got the ability to step his game up if he can focus a little. For a guy with that much swing and miss in his approach, though, it all really boils down to whether he can figure out how to take a walk. That’s what I’ve told him, anyway. I think he’ll spend the off-season thinking about that. If he can come to camp with a solid attitude of swinging hard at only the right pitches, I think he could have a good long time here in Sacramento. So, no we don’t have any real plans to move him. But part of the issue is that I’m just not sure another team wants to take a chance on him at the big-league level. His numbers are there, you know? Anyone could have gotten him earlier.”
Throughout the day on the water, it seems that the Fonz has that idea, but he’s not yet grasped it. He tells me the team actually reached out to extend him longer, but that he wasn’t in the mood to deal with it. I asked what happened to the cash he’d already earned—posing out that the houseboat is more than a little rickety, and I’m thinking probably leaks in a few places.
The Fonz grinned. “I like pizza … and beer, too … don’t forget the beer.”
We won’t of course.
But given the situation, it seems like perhaps Vasco could forsake a few trips to the microbrew for a few reps on the VR cage.
We hope he does. A guy with that kind of pop who can play three (or four) positions, is a valuable guy indeed.
| POS | Player Name | Age | B | T | OVR | POT | Con | Con P | Gap | Gap P | Pow | Pow P | Eye | Eye P | AvK | AvK P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3B | Vasco Fonzarelli | 29 | S | R | 50 | 50 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 4 |
| Source | Ht | Wt | SPD | STE | RUN | CAB | CAR | IFR | IFE | IFA | TDP | OFR | OFE | OFA | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLC | 6'1" | 200 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
