COMMENTARY

Wilkins exposed to business side of professional baseball

Former Arkansas first baseman Andy Wilkins will go to spring training next month with the Milwaukee Brewers. Wilkins has been with seven major league organizations since being drafted in 2010.
Former Arkansas first baseman Andy Wilkins will go to spring training next month with the Milwaukee Brewers. Wilkins has been with seven major league organizations since being drafted in 2010.

Oh, to live the glamorous life of a professional athlete.

The money, the fame, the respect and admiration from thousands of fans. Just don't try to convince Andy Wilkins how good he's got it right now.

The former Arkansas first baseman is learning what so many have learned before. Rent, don't buy. Because if college baseball is mostly fun, professional baseball is strictly business.

Wilkins spent all of 2015 in Triple-A, where he played for teams in the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers organizations. Once the season was over, Wilkins was on the move without leaving his house.

Two days before Christmas, the Milwaukee Brewers claimed Wilkins off waivers from the Texas Rangers, who picked him up from the Seattle Mariners, who claimed him from the Baltimore Orioles. Wilkins was with Baltimore briefly after he was left off the Dodgers' 40-man roster when the season was completed.

To recap, that's seven major league organizations and four teams in less than two months Wilkins has been a part of since leaving Arkansas in 2010. The guy has more baseball caps than the sporting goods store at the mall.

Wilkins' best season came in 2014 when he hit 30 home runs and made the All-Star team with Triple-A Charlotte. That led to a promotion with the Chicago White Sox, where he went 6-for-43 with two doubles and two RBI.

Wilkins, 27, will try to keep grinding after he hit .249 with 18 home runs and 70 RBI at Oklahoma City last year. If he makes the Brewers, the left-handed hitting Wilkins could alternate at first base with Chris Carter, a right-handed batter who hit 24 home runs with the Houston Astros last season.

The competition begins Feb. 25 when the full squad for the Brewers reports.

The coming months are also pivotal for Zack Cox, a former teammate of Wilkins at Arkansas. Cox was selected in December by the Washington Nationals via the Rule 5 draft, which give players who've been in the minor leagues five years opportunities with other organizations.

Cox, 26, will begin the year at Triple-A Syracuse after he hit a combined .304 at Double-A Jacksonville, Fla., and Triple-A New Orleans in the Miami Marlins organization last season. Cox was selected in the first round by the St. Louis Cardinals after he set batting records at Arkansas, where he was named an All-American in 2010. But he's been stuck in the minors while struggling for consistency at the plate, where he has a career batting average of .285.

Still, the Nationals see potential in Cox, who displayed an ability to drive the ball to the opposite field in college.

"The left-handed bat appeals to us, the ability to play third base," Nationals director of player development Mark Scialabba told The Washington Post. "Finding some depth there was something we were targeting, and he was a top target for us in that Triple A phase."

A change of scenery could also benefit Blake Parker, a former Razorback and Fayetteville Bulldog. Parker was signed by the Mariners in December after the Chicago Cubs released him in May.

Parker, 30, spent the past few seasons bouncing between Chicago and the Cubs' Triple-A team at Iowa. He made brief appearances with the Cubs in 2012-14, where he compiled a 2-3 record with a 3.68 ERA and one save in 74 appearances.

Parker will go the spring training with the Mariners, who are searching to replace the top five relievers from last year's Opening Day roster.

Sports on 01/17/2016

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