Let’s not have the American Association have all the fun, let the other Independent Leagues make some headlines!
The Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball (Can-Am League) reported that Nick Giarraputo, the Can-Am League’s Player of the Year, had his contact purchased by the Chicago White Sox.
This is the fourth Can-Am League player to have his contract purchased by an MLB club this off-season.
Giarraputo, who according to Baseball Reference, was drafted by the New York Mets in the 12th round of the 2006 MLB June Amateur Draft. In his four seasons with the Mets organization Giarraputo made it up to Single-A.
He had his best season in 2009 splitting time between Brooklyn and Savannah. In 54 games he batted .279 with three home runs and 26 RBI.
The last three years Giarraputo has been playing Independent ball spending time with the Sussex Skyhawks before being claimed off waivers by the New Jersey Jackals in January of 2011. And his time with the Jackals could not have been any better.
Independent ball is a great way for many people to revive their career or for late-bloomers to shine. In this instance, it might be a little bit of both.
His first two seasons in Indy ball showed an increase of power; seven and six home runs respectively. His RBI’s shot up to 41 in 2010 and 44 in 2011. While Giarraputo didn’t show these types of numbers with the Mets, the increase is in large part to playing more and getting near 400 at-bats a season.
In his breakout 2012 POY season, he batted .316 and slugged near .570. 22 home runs and 71 RBI on top of the .316 put Giarraputo in the top five of each category. (Courtesy of the Can-Am League).
Devon is the Founder and Executive Director of The GM's Perspective. He is a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals & Gateway Grizzlies. Currently, Devon is a Manager at a financial institution in Northern Ontario Canada, and can be reached at devon@thegmsperspective.com. You can follow The GM's Perspective on Twitter and Facebook. His full bio can be seen here.
Comments