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Nice article in the Times about Register. Wifey's name is Beth. I hear her calling.
]February 20, 2008
Long Shot for Reliever Better Than Having No Shot
By BEN SHPIGEL
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — At about the time Steven Register would have been driving through northern Louisiana, his destination still two motel stops away, he arrived here, at his new spring training home, only eight hours after leaving his hometown of Columbus, Ga.
“It was awesome,” Register said, smiling. “Sure beat the three days it took to get to Tucson.”
The good news for Register is that, if a few things go his way this spring, he may never again have to make that long drive to Arizona, the training site of his former team, the Colorado Rockies. The bad news is that it is entirely possible he will.
Register, a right-handed reliever who in four professional seasons has never pitched above Class AA, joined the Mets in December by way of the Rule 5 draft, whose rules stipulate that he must begin and end the season on the Mets’ 25-man roster or be offered back to the Rockies for $25,000, half his cost, before he can pitch in the minor leagues this season.
In other words, with only one slot seemingly open in the Mets’ bullpen, Register must prove that it is he and not, say, Matt Wise, Ruddy Lugo or Brian Stokes, who most deserves that honor.
“I don’t know what the odds are, but I know they’re not good,” said Register, who turns 25 in May. “But I have to hold on to the fact that people stick sometimes.”
There are several Rule 5 success stories, including Johan Santana. But for every Dan Uggla or Shane Victorino, there are dozens of Alec Zumwalts or Mike Bumatays, who have yet to throw their first major league pitch.
Since being selected out of Auburn in the third round of the 2004 draft, Register has gone 20-31 in four seasons in the Rockies’ organization. But last year, his first as a professional reliever, he led the minor leagues with 37 saves, which had to mean something to somebody.
That somebody was Jerry Krause, the former Chicago Bulls general manager who became a scout with the Mets in 2005. Krause recommended that Register’s low 90s fastball, decent slider and command were worth taking a $50,000 chance on.
“If we’re looking at two guys equally, him and someone else who may have options left, he could get the edge so we keep our depth,” said John Ricco, the Mets’ assistant general manager. “He’ll get every chance to succeed.”
Based on his performance last season, Register said most of his friends told him not to worry about being left off the 40-man roster, that there was no way that Colorado could stand to lose him now. But Register thought differently. He concluded that the Rockies, who have a deep farm system, would probably elect to keep other pitching prospects.
“We had to make decisions that were tough, and he fell right into that category,” Marc Gustafson, the Rockies’ director of player development, said in a telephone interview. “People were pulling for him to stay. We knew it was a risk not to protect him.”
The Rockies had to submit their unprotected list on Nov. 20, but Register was too busy planning his wedding, scheduled for Dec. 9, three days after the Rule 5 draft, to worry much about it. On the morning of the draft, Register was hanging out with a few groomsmen at his apartment in Birmingham, Ala., when he got a phone call. He was a Met. Goodbye, Tucson.
“I was like: ‘O.K. That’s exciting,’ ” Register said. “And then I went back to thinking about the wedding. I didn’t have time to think about anything else.”
But when he returned from his 12-day honeymoon on the Riviera Maya, Register said he started paying more attention to his competition. A flood of nonroster invitees and free-agent signings, most with major league experience, diminished his chances.
“No one wants to be left unprotected; everyone wants to be liked, including me,” Register said. “But I think this is still a good opportunity to get where I want to be, which, of course, is the major leagues.”
There is a conversation waiting to be held in the clubhouse with Santana, who, before winning two Cy Young awards with Minnesota, was an average left-hander in the Astros’ organization, going 19-21 with a 4.77 earned run average in his first three seasons. Santana was left unprotected in 1999. After the Marlins chose him, he was immediately traded to the Twins.
“I thought that I’d spend my whole career with Houston,” Santana said. “But then I got traded to Florida, and then a half-hour later I was traded to Minnesota. I just concentrated on doing whatever they asked of me and felt that it didn’t matter where I played as long as I made it to the big leagues.”
Register said he more or less felt the same way. His wife, Beth, changed her major at Auburn to teaching from nursing, figuring that she could find a teaching job anywhere. She teaches first grade in Birmingham, but Register said she would be more than happy to do so in New York, Tampa or Toronto.
“This is my dream,” Register said. “We’ll see where it takes me.” |
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