Yesterday, former Oriole Jay Gibbons signed a minor league deal with the Florida Marlins on Tuesday & should be battling for a roster spot during spring training.
He’s still getting paid by the Orioles; however, his play in his stint in the Atlantic League and in the Caribbean, plus a chat with Jeff Conine — former Marlin/Oriole and a front office member for Florida — may have given him an opening to play Major League Baseball again.
Well, a lot of know how I feel about Jay — he might have been a better player because of PED’s; however, his treatment after the Mitchell Report was not due to being caught being a steroid user, but because of his performance in 2006 & 2007.
Honestly, he would not have had to battle to win up back in the majors if he was a .300 hitter; plain and simple. Anyone who thinks otherwise is lying to themselves.
I’ve met the man on a few occasions as a fan — he’s as nice as they come, and I’m glad to see he got a second chance.
Unlike most of the players who have had their names and steroids in the same sentence who have denied it, lawyered up, and said sorry for everything except what they were accused of, Gibbons at least manned up, said sorry, and seemed contrite for getting caught and ruining his good name along with career.
That’s enough for me.
