Minor Leaguer Cut For Stealing
Hydrant
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Jake Sanford, a minor league player in the Yankees organization, was cut from the team for stealing teammates equipment and selling the items online. I don't know the specific details. The part about selling the equipment on- line, and then being cut from the team is an interesting twist but teammates stealing from other teammates in the minor leagues is actually very common and in the cases that I know of when the perp is identified he is not cut from the team. Favorite items are of course, jewelry, watches, cash, etc. I've personally heard of many, many instances of it happening. Minor League baseball is a very interesting case study. Bottom line.......What the fans think they are seeing on the field is not remotely what they think it is. Actually, it is somewhat of an overall sham.
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I was also told just recently of major theft occurring in a Major League clubhouse. Uniforms, bats, balls, etc. The details of that one had my head spinning. It had me speechless and disappointed at the same time.....you think you know people..... but you really only know the surface. You don't know them at all.
People are people regardless, I don’t think for one second that teammates are all friends.
I also find it very hard to believe that stealing from teammates in the locker room is a common thing and getting caught without getting cut or traded?
Stealing from anyone is terrible but it’s at a different level when you steal from friends or coworkers in my opinion.
Believe it or not, it is very common. Especially in the lower minors. The perps don't get traded because they aren't trading material. No other team would want them. They are "filler players" brought onto the team as cheap labor. Every minor league team is stocked with those guys. Superior talent is not the reason they are on the team. As far as being cut, proof requires lawyers, etc. Not worth it. They will be gone next season, replaced with another batch. Take the loss and suck it up.
I personally know three players who have told me about it. And all three of them were victims of locker room thefts. One of them is the son of The Lovely Mrs. Hydrant's cousin. Two of those guys had successful Major League careers and one of them is currently the batting coach for a Major League team. They all tell the same story...... Basically?...... It's a thing. Believe it or not.
Very interesting, I noticed a while back that at my local walmart the employees get sloppy sometimes and forget to put bar scanner price tags on apples, you could steal them easily. I'm an honest man so I always pay for my apples, but I guarantee you one thing, someone out there isn't honest, and they've also noticed.
From 2002:
Ruben Rivera released, accused of stealing glove
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. -- A baseball player's locker is a sacred place -- the one private place in his very public world. Ruben Rivera learned that invading that sanctum can be a most serious offense.
Once one of the most promising prospects in baseball, Rivera was placed on unconditional release waivers by the New York Yankees after being accused of taking a bat and glove from teammate Derek Jeter's locker.
"That type of thing is a shock," manager Joe Torre said Tuesday. "It's sad. It's unfortunate."
Unlike many off-the-field transgressions that often can be overlooked, Rivera was not given a second chance by the Yankees.
"We look at this as our house and this is our family," reliever Mike Stanton said. "We spend more time here than we do with our real families. This was something that had to be dealt with quickly and as discretely as possible, but that's not possible in this age."
None of the Yankees players or officials would publicly say why Rivera was cut. But a baseball lawyer familiar with the decision, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Rivera took the equipment from Jeter's locker and sold it to a sports memorabilia agent.
Rivera later returned the glove and bat, which he reportedly sold for $2,500, but it was too late to save his career with the Yankees.
He signed a $1 million, one-year guaranteed contract with the Yankees last month, but the team negotiated a $200,000 settlement Monday, the source said.
"The clubhouse is a special place," Torre said. "It's our sanctuary. It's big part of what we do. Trust is very important."
Jeter declined to comment, saying he didn't "want to add fuel to the fire."
Rivera also refused to comment on Monday night before leaving the team and agents declined comment.
Clubhouse thefts aren't common, but two notable ones became public last year.
Philadelphia 76ers conditioning coach John Croce, the brother of then-team president Pat Croce, was fired after he was caught on videotape stealing money from Allen Iverson's pants in the locker room.
New Orleans Saints wide receiver Albert Connell was arrested last year on charges he stole more than $4,000 from teammate Deuce McAllister. Connell was released from the team last month.
Yankees starter Roger Clemens said things disappear from his locker all year, but he has never suspected a teammate.
"I try and protect some of my important game stuff," Clemens said. "It happens all the time. I don't think it's the players."
Jeter and Rivera were teammates in a rookie league 10 years ago and played together at stops on the way to the majors. Their lockers were about 30 feet apart.
Like that of most players, Jeter's locker is filled with shoes, bats, uniforms and gloves -- which he considers his most precious baseball item. Other valuables are usually locked away.
Jeter sells most of his game-used equipment -- including 20-to-25 bats a year -- through Steiner Sports Memorabilia to raise money for his Turn 2 Foundation for children.
Brandon Steiner, the head of the company, said the sales generate more than $250,000 a year for the charity, including between $2,500 and $10,000 per bat. But there's one item Jeter never sells.
"I know those gloves are very personal," Steiner said. "He never parts with them."
Rivera was confronted by the team after players learned of the accusations. Rivera had a closed-door meeting Saturday with Torre, general manager Brian Cashman and special instructor Reggie Jackson.
Cashman met with Rivera again Monday morning and, later that day the players were told of the decision.
"We have always been able to discuss things as a team," outfielder Bernie Williams said. "That's one reason why we've been so successful because we've had such good chemistry. We tend to act as a unit and talk things through."
Complicating matters is that Rivera is a cousin of closer Mariano Rivera, who played a role in bringing the outfielder back this season.
"I am disappointed," Mariano Rivera said. "I prefer not to talk about it."
The 28-year-old outfielder originally was signed by the Yankees as a free agent in 1990, and became the team's top prospect. He was traded to San Diego in the Hideki Irabu deal in 1997 but never fulfilled his potential.
"He's one of the best physical talents I've seen," Williams said. "He can do it all. He has the potential to be the best."
Instead, Rivera has struggled to stay in the majors, hitting .218 with 58 homers and 185 RBIs in 562 games.
The Yankees hoped Rivera was starting to turn his career around this spring. He batted .350 in eight games in his bid to make the team as a backup outfielder.
Yes, Dragon Master.....not happen only apple, also Foam Window Seal. Grasshopper sealing screen doors on humble dwelling. Keep out lurking and evil serpent with bad mind. Grasshopper go Home Depot. Kind lady miss one pack Foam. $4.98. Grasshopper tell kind lady. Grasshopper reward?.....Smile of kind lady........Grasshopper out $4.98!
Interesting, I will take your word for it
I would think at the Major League level especially with names like Derek Jeter a guy would be cut immediately
This might be a new favorite 😂😂😂😂
Thanks, Perky. This is a very touchy subject. A third rail. I will add more here but no specifics...... Minor League teams are generally built around one player. Especially in the Low Minors. Rookie, A ball, AA ball...That one player is the top draft pick of the Franchise. Everything centers on that players development. And of course he is a kid, 18/19 years old fresh out of high school. And he is sometimes a millionaire. At the very least he has signed a contract that makes him very wealthy. The other players are not in that category. The average salary of a minor leaguer is so low that fast food joint workers make more than they do. That's a standing joke among the players. Many talented players don't even play because the money isn't there. Many players that continue are dependent on their parents subsidizing them. Those guys play because they like the game. Many of the players who continue in the minors do not have the luxury of parents helping them out. They continue in the game out of necessity. They have very limited job opportunities outside of the game. So, there is jeausoly between the "Golden Boy" who is pampered and gets all the attention and money and his teammates who feel neglected and who play for peanuts. The Golden Boy is a target. The rest follows naturally...... Theft?....Boys will be boys.
Yes, I've had many bad encounters with cashiers, you can see me in this photo at walmart arguing with a cashier that ripped me off, I'm the one wearing daisy dukes and boots.
You go out in public dressed like that, you deserve to get ripped off! And worse....
When I had tickets for Spokane Indians games, I had many, many scouts sit next to me at games. Occasionally they were chatty and would engage with me.
One night a scout said something I'd always thought/known but never articulated - "95% of these guys are here so the other 5% have somebody to play with." It's a harsh reality but it's true. The vast, vast majority of the players have little or no chance of going up more than one level in the minors. Baseball isn't their future, they're just competitive fodder for the guys who do have a potential baseball future.
Yep,....That is minor league baseball in a nutshell!........But the fans do not know that.....They think they are watching the best players available at that level. Nothing could be further from the truth....... That would cost the organization money!....I have seen minor league starters that would be bench warmers on a good high school team.......Worst offender I ever saw?......The Lansing, Michigan Lug Nuts in The Great Lakes League (?). Years ago I went to one of their games.......Checking on a pitcher for the Burlington, Iowa Bees. I think?........What I saw was so pathetic I will never forget it...I know a little league shortstop that was better than the shortstop they fielded..... By far.....NO JOKE!.......but.....the between inning music WAS SO LOUD.....that the fans scrambled brains could not concentrate on the game........I think that was the plan.......
This isn't an apples to apples comparison, but the minor leagues for MLB serve some of the same purpose as college football does for the NFL, with the majority of the players never making it to the pros.
You're correct, however, the "Amateur" college football player makes more money (perks, guarentees, etc.) than the average "Professional" baseball minor leaguer who never went to college. So,....overall, it's a better deal for the college football player with NFL hopes.......If the the NFL hopeful, who did not make it to the pros, has an intelligent parent or good agent to negotiate with the college and the player is smart and motivated enough after graduation to take advantage to the "Goodies" in the Letter of Intent that he signed right out of high school.
Of course at first you get away with it but eventually, with technology today, you are gonna get caught! I just can't believe how people throw away their careers and livelihoods because of the greed for money. Reminds me of the people driving brand new Cadillacs that drive up to the free food giveaways for the less fortunate.
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
This in nuts....but I woke up this morning..... and......I REMEMBERED IT HAPPENED TO ME!..... I'm thinking this is why this story caught my attention. Anyway, here's what happened....It was a football team. Money was being stolen from my locker during practice.... I kept an eye on the locker room door and I figured out who the theif was. He was always the last guy to come out and onto the field. So,...I wrote my name on some dollar bills that were in my locker. Sure enough, after practice that money was gone. So, I confronted the guy, after practice, with some buddies. We made him empty his pockets and guess what? There was the money with my name on them! We showed the marked bills to the coach and the creep was cut from the team........ He was the worst player on the team...no great loss....
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That was some good detective work.
I’m thinking a lot of times it’s based on jealousy, some of these guys I bet feel they are better players and see some overpaid guy tossing expensive jewelry or wads of money that would take said jealous ball player a full season to earn into their lockers without a care in the world and they decide to grab it.
I heard Manny Ramires used to find old game checks not even cashed crumpled up in his locker that he totally forgot about.
When I was in high school, a neighbor down the street bought the single A San Jose Bees so his kid would have a place to play post high school. Our car dealer neighbor figured that was the best place for his son.
For the next 5 yrs. Until be grew up.
...
Must be nice