What Minor League Baseball shutdown means for former Gamecocks, Tigers
Like most minor-leaguers, Alex Destino was holding out hope for a season this summer.
That hope officially came to an end last week as Minor League Baseball canceled its season, something that has been rumored for weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This year’s been a wash,” said Destino, a former South Carolina standout and member of the Chicago White Sox organization.
Major League Baseball teams are set to begin a 60-game regular season later this month. Each team will craft an active roster out of a 60-player pool. Twelve former Gamecocks and 10 former Clemson Tigers made their organization’s initial pool and have the best chance to be part of MLB’s shortened season.
For the rest of South Carolina’s and Clemson’s baseball greats affected by Minor League Baseball’s shutdown, there are two options: Get ready for the 2021 season, or be ready just in case their club comes calling in the next two months.
Destino, a 14th round pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, would have likely started in High-A Winston-Salem and was hoping to make it to Double-A Birmingham this season. He hit .293 last season with 17 homers and 64 RBIs, mainly at Low-A Kannapolis.
Destino was in Arizona for spring training in March when Major League Baseball shut things down. He stayed there and lived with former No. 1 pick Andrew Vaughn before going back to his hometown in North Carolina last month.
While in Arizona, Destino said he and other White Sox minor-leaguers would work out three times a week to stay sharp just in case.
“It was an ideal situation,” Destino said. “It was extremely beneficial to me. I had my hitting coach out there from last season and gave me a game plan on what to work on during the season.”
Since coming back to North Carolina, Destino said he’s been hitting at a batting cage of one of his neighbors and playing a lot of golf. He also has offered to cut some folks’ grass to earn some extra money.
The shutdown has hurt some players financially. Many were released in the spring.
Destino said he’s been fortunate that the White Sox are one of the organizations continuing to pay its minor-leaguers. The players have been getting $400 a week during the shutdown, which for some is an actual increase to the usual salary during the season.
“I can’t complain. The White Sox do a great job and have gone up and above what is necessary,” Destino said. “We have learned to adapt and learn to live cheap. That money goes a long way.”
Former Clemson pitcher Charlie Barnes was also hopeful that somehow, some way a minor league season would take place in 2020. He wasn’t surprised when the official ruling came Tuesday afternoon that the season was over before ever starting.
“We had kind of been prepped a little bit, nothing official, but we had been hearing rumblings of the season being canceled.” Barnes said. “There were just too many logistical issues to try to figure out. I was definitely disappointed when it came out (Tuesday) officially.”
Barnes, who played at Clemson from 2015-17, was drafted by the Twins in the fourth round of the 2017 MLB Draft after serving as the Tigers’ ace that year.
The Sumter native spent time in Single-A (Advanced), Double-A and Triple-A last season and was a candidate to make the Twins’ 60-man roster for the shortened 2020 season. He didn’t make the cut, however, but said he’ll be ready if called upon later this year.
“Last I talked to the Twins, if something happens I will be going up to Minneapolis, if some guys get sick that are on the taxi squad,” Barnes said. “They’ve talked to me and told me to stay ready if something were to happen. I’m just going to stay ready, keep working out, keep throwing, keep doing what I can do to get better.”
The Twins are also continuing to pay their minor league players, an act Barnes is thankful for. That is allowing him to not have to get a second job and instead focus on baseball as he continues to work out in Sumter.
Even though this isn’t how Barnes ever envisioned spending a year of his professional baseball career, he plans to use it to continue to work on his curveball and becoming a better all-around pitcher as he tries to work his way up to the major leagues.
“It’s really crazy. It’s not something you ever plan for,” Barnes said. “But if there’s one thing that baseball teaches you, it kind of teaches you how to roll with the punches.”
Gamecocks on MLB 60-man rosters
Jackie Bradley Jr., Boston Red Sox
Will Crowe, Washington Nationals
Grayson Greiner, Detroit Tigers
Tyler Johnson, Chicago White Sox
Whit Merrifield, Kansas City Royals
Jordan Montgomery, New York Yankees
Clarke Schmidt, New York Yankees
Max Schrock, St. Louis Cardinals
Justin Smoak, Milwaukee Brewers
Christian Walker, Arizona Diamondbacks
Tyler Webb, St. Louis Cardinals
Taylor Widener, Arizona Diamondbacks
Tigers on MLB 60-man rosters
Jeremy Beasley, Arizona Diamondbacks
Seth Beer, Arizona Diamondbacks
Logan Davidson, Oakland Athletics
Steven Duggar, San Francisco Giants
Mike Freeman, Cleveland Indians
Daniel Gossett, Oakland Athletics
Dominic Leone, Cleveland Indians
Brad Miller, St. Louis Cardinals
Eli White, Texas Rangers
Steve Wilkerson, Baltimore Orioles
This story was originally published July 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
