The Odyssey of Esteban German

Name: Esteban German

Carp Company: Topps

Year: 2008

Team: Kansas City Royals

Bats/Throws: R

Ht: 5'9

Esteban German, played 10 years in the MLB, however that does not mean that he played a lot. In his 10-year career German played in only 409 games, coming out to an average of about 41 games per season. Now for someone that only played in 41 games per year, he still managed to make an impact. Unlike other players that fit this mold German was far more consistent at the plate and could play multiple positions. So, the question must be asked how did a career .280 hitter only play in 41 games a year?

Esteban German was originally signed out of the Dominican Republic as an undrafted free agent by the Oakland A’s in 1996. He would then spend the next five years in the minors before making his debut as a September call-up late in the 2002 season. In that season German would only play in 9 games. In fact, this would become the theme for him while in Oakland, get called up late and barley play at all. And after the 2004 season he was granted free agency for the first time in his career.

The Texas Rangers would eventually sign German to a deal to bring him to Arlington. However, he was once again sent to the minors where he would spend nearly the entire season before making a brief appearance with the Rangers in September. The very next year the Rangers would trade him to the Kansas City Royals for pitching prospect Fabio Castro. Castro would only pitch in 4 games for the Rangers before being traded to the Phillies for Daniel Haigwood, a pitcher who never made it out of the minor leagues.

German on the other hand would finally get an opportunity to become a regular player for the Kansas City Royals, playing in a

career high 106 games in 2006. His previous career high was 31 games in 2004 as a member of the A’s. Now German might have gotten the opportunity to play because of the shear lack of talent on the Royals, but none the less he made the most of it. In his debut season with the Royals he posted a .326 batting average while hitting 5 triples and driving in 34 runs. The next year in 2007 he would fall off a bit, only hitting .264 but did set career high marks in both homeruns, RBI’s and games played. However, the next year would see German appear in only 89 games and after the 2008 season he would be released by the Royals.

After the Cubs quickly signed and released him the Rangers would swoop in to sign him to another contract. However, German’s career would then revert back to the way it was before, when he spent most of his time in the minor leagues. He would spend the next 3-years with the Rangers never playing in more than 20 games in a single. On the brightside, he was named a part of the Rangers 2011 World Series roster giving him an opportunity to end his career with a ring. Unfortunately, the Rangers or more specifically Nelson Cruz choked the game away after misplaying a flyball that would have given the Rangers their first World Series title. A play that might have been made had the Rangers substituted German in for Cruz, who probably makes that catch. Instead the Rangers would lose games 6 and 7 and a hero was born in St. Louis in the form of David Freese.

If you haven’t read my Mark Ryal article please do so because it will give you a better understanding of why players like German disappear. German had he played in today’s era would probably be on a MLB roster, due to a greater emphasis on utility player usage. This is not to say that he would have been Ben Zobrist, but he would’ve carved out a nice little niche for himself in the MLB. But in the end German played just a bit too early and because of that he was misused for most of his career.

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