A wild story out of the Minnesota Twins organization tonight, as ESPN is reporting that sixth round pick Derek Bender has been released. Well, that’s not the wild part, though I suppose any organization releasing its sixth round pick just a couple months after drafting him would be a huge surprise. Instead, the wild part is WHY he is being released. ESPN reports that it is because, while catching, he tipped off batters to what pitches were coming in a game that wound up eliminating his team from playoff contention.
According to the story, the tipping did happen in innings when the other team put up a crooked number, and Bender had “told teammates he wanted the season to be over, according to sources.” I suppose we don’t know for 100% certain what was going on, but if that’s all true, then you can probably connect the dots.
Bender, 21, was a slightly under-slot signing this year for the Twins, and had posted a .200/.273/.333/76 wRC+ slash line over 19 games at Low-A.
It had to be particularly wild to be a batter in that situation, right? The catcher is telling you what pitch is coming, and you would have to wonder whether he was just messing with your mind. But then it turns out to be true a few times, and you decide, OK, I guess he just wants me to crush the ball.
More on the story here at ESPN.