Eric Thames: The Jeremy Lin of MLB
March, 20, 2012
By David Schoenfield
Player No. 467 in our ESPN 500 ranking of baseball's best players: Toronto
Blue Jays outfielder Eric Thames.
Player No. 467 when our NBA section did their 500 last fall: A certain point
guard named Jeremy Lin. You may have heard of him.
Are the two comparable? In one sense, no. In the NBA, No. 467 means you're
barely hanging around for a paycheck. NBA teams can carry up to 15 players;
with 30 teams that means 450 jobs. Indeed, after playing sparingly as a
rookie with the Golden State Warriors, Lin was cut in training camp, signed
by Houston, cut again, and signed with the Knicks.
In baseball, No. 467 means you can earn a nice chunk of change. If you
consider each team has 16 "starters"