Matt Harrington

[michst]

I know his fastball is no longer what it was, and he is doing horribly in the independent league. I was curious as to why? He was once a very highly regarded prospect then didn't sign any contracts. I know players flame out all the time but often its because of injury. Is he injured, just crappy coaching or was he never that good to begin with and people misjudged him? I would think he doesn't have the support (trainers, coaches, doctors) in the independent leagues so his performance would be affected. Does he still have talent and worth signing for nothing?

[flyer85]

Originally Posted by michst

I know his fastball is no longer what it was, and he is doing horribly in the independent league. I was curious as to why? He was once a very highly regarded prospect then didn't sign any contracts. I know players flame out all the time but often its because of injury. Is he injured, just crappy coaching or was he never that good to begin with and people misjudged him? I would think he doesn't have the support (trainers, coaches, doctors) in the independent leagues so his performance would be affected. Does he still have talent and worth signing for nothing?

HE just never signed. He turned down $3.8M in 2000(there were extenuating circumstances) and them 1.2M in 2001. He was drafted 5 times(once by the Reds) and never signed. The time to play professional baseball has basically passed him by. I guess he can sit around and talk about what might have been.

A truly sad and bizarre soap opera.

[cincinnati chili]

There was (or perhaps still is) a lawsuit against his agent. But from what I heard, it was his dad who ticked off the Rockies so much that they told him to go screw.

[flyer85]

Originally Posted by cincinnati chili

There was (or perhaps still is) a lawsuit against his agent. But from what I heard, it was his dad who ticked off the Rockies so much that they told him to go screw.

Matt and his family ended up caught in the middle between Tanzer and O'Dowd. BA chronicled the entire sordid affair with a series of articles. The poor choice the family made was deciding to turn down almost $4M on a "matter of principle".