Sorry A’s fans…

for the pious among us to say this is a great decision for the young man, even though it is most obviously not.

IMO any organized religion is blind faith. Just believe in God and continue to play baseball. There are tons of players who do that. Really taking it to the extreme here

Think Desme was pretty overrated as is, but still a perplexing choice. Good for him for doing what he wants, though.

and Desme subsequently announced this, I wonder what the Padres would have done. Especially since they’re, you know, the “Padres.”

Alleluia!

Time for Travis Buck and Corey Brown to step up

Good luck with the Padres

because he’s on a mission from gaaad

It’s almost like a forecast of what’s to come when tebow realizes he has reached the peak of his career (last year) and won’t make it in the big time pressure of the nfl

What always enters my mind when athletes pass up their shot at going pro for a different path is how much good could they have done for their cause by sticking with sports and being a strong advocate for, in this example, religion? I’m not suggesting I like the idea of someone using their status as a baseball player to influence kids but I think he could have done a lot of good for his religion by seeing where things go. Then of course you have the money, religion is often expensive.

I agree with everyone saying perhaps this was the best choice but he certainly had plenty of time to pursue other things, most people can’t get back into sports after several years off.

he would hand over his $432,000 signing bonus

That would have been fun.

I contacted several scouts to get their take. “Oh my God! Holy smokes!” the first said, then he laughed, realizing what he’d said, given the context. “This is a new one for me.”

That scout has been in the business more than 30 years.

The second scout, who’d seen Desme play this fall, said that there was little doubt that Desme would be a big-leaguer. He said the A’s felt they might have a potential star on their hands, so they must be disappointed, although the team has been entirely supportive of Desme’s decision.

“For those of us who were never good enough to make it to the big leagues, this is a head-scratcher,” the scout said. “But during this time in baseball when there’s so much lying and selfishness and hypocrisy, I’ve got to say I think this is very refreshing. This is someone who has his priorities intact. God bless him.”

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/athletics/detail?blogid=21&entry_id=55819

Presser this afternoon… should be fun.