When Andrew Berger was passed over in the MLB amateur draft this spring, it looked like his dreams of pro ball were over. College degree in hand, the former Lehigh and Mat-Su right-hander was about to leave the game behind and take on the grind of the "real world" that the rest of us know so well.
Little did he know that his dreams would be resurrected so quickly.
Their minor-league staffs depleted, the Arizona Diamondbacks followed up on their draft by scouring undrafted free agents for experienced arms that might flesh out their crippled farm teams. A couple weeks later, and Berger was inked to a free-agent deal and on his way to Yakima of the low-A Northwest league.
While it may not seem unusual for a graduate college arm with summer ball experience behind him to skip the short-season leagues and land in A- ball, his season would take yet another interesting turn when he was promoted to the AAA Reno Aces of the Pacific Coast League, one step away from the bigs. While it's not likely that his stay there will be permanent (if his first AAA start at Salt Lake in which he only went three innings before getting the hook is any indication, he's overmatched at that level), it is undoubtedly a thrill for someone who was on the verge of being forced out of the game all together to be launched all the way to the (almost) big time. And who knows...he might turn out to be a prospect after all.
Congratulations to Andrew on his signing, and keep an eye on 49thStateHardball for updates on Berger and all the ABL-turned-pro players.
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