Pebble Hunting: This Article Mentions Fehlandt Lentini

Last year, the best/my favorite transaction of the season came in late August: “Tampa Bay Rays signed free agent CF Freddy Guzman to a minor league contract.” Guzman was 32, had most recently appeared in the majors in 2009, had a career OPS+ of 42, and was at the time playing in Mexico, where his teammates included Esteban Loaiza (41 years old), Ruben Rivera (39) and Ruben Mateo (35). I liked this move so much that Ben Lindbergh and I devoted an entire podcast episode to it.

Guzman is fast, and the Rays had signed him (then, a week later, recalled him) so that he could be the designated pinch-runner—and absolutely never do anything else—when rosters expanded in September. He might also come in handy in October, when the back of the bench can be a bit more specialized and when games are generally lower scoring and closer. The Rays were not the only team with such an idea; the Red Sox recalled Quintin Berry, having traded for him on August 27th, three days before Guzman was signed. As I wrote last October, “Berry is the same phenomenon: A player with one weapon that is so valuable in October that it merits 4 percent of the postseason roster, but so easily found that a contending team can completely ignore it until August 27th.”

Berry stole three bags in October (one per series; he is now 29-for-29 in stolen base attempts in his major-league career) and Guzman appeared on the field exactly once in a Rays uniform, as a pinch-runner, stealing a base then dashing home with the tying run in extra innings. I don’t care how little use a guy like this has; a designated pinch-runner is just fun, and every team should have one, the worse at everything else the better. That’s why I chose a potential pinch-runner as my September Call-Up (I) Want To See this week, and I assume it’s why Matt Sussman chose Berry for his.

So, with that all said: It’s August 29th. Last call for clubs to sign a Herb Washington for the stretch run. There are 10 teams with better than a 50 percent shot at October, so we need to find 10 pinch-runners. The Royals’ answer is probably Terrance Gore, and the Orioles’ is probably Berry, but where else might one look? Allow me to headhunt for you, MLB GMs:

Athletics should call up Billy Burns
Cost: None
Realistic: Very
Burns, acquired in the trade with the Nationals—no, not that one; no; no; no; no; no; yeah, that one—stole 74 bags in the minors last year and has grabbed 54 this year, while maintaining excellent success rates. He is one of five minor leaguers listed as having 80 speed by the prospect team this winter. He’s already on the 40-man roster and has already been brought up once this year, though the only time he reached base (as a pinch-runner) lasted exactly one pitch, as he was forced out on an immediate grounder hit by the next batter. He’s so fast that he has already read to the end of this article, and found it wanting.

Nationals should call up Rafael Bautista
Cost: Would need to add to 40-man roster
Realistic: Reasonably
Bautista was an on-the-rise prospect before the season, with Jason Parks putting a 7 on his speed tool. He has 66 steals for Single-A Hagerstown this year, third in professional baseball, with just 12 times caught. Adding him would be a bit of a roster-management headache—he’s a long way from otherwise meriting a 40-man roster spot—but he’s not likely any better than a future fourth outfielder anyway. He’s so fast that he can turn a light switch off and hop into bed just a couple seconds after the light goes out.

Brewers should call up Monte Harrison
Cost: Substantial; would need to add to 40-man roster.
Realistic: A bit less than
Harrison is only 19, playing his first season (he was drafted this June), and a legitimate prospect, so the Brewers certainly wouldn’t want to put him on the 40-man roster right now. Pft. That’s the sort of cautious thinking that gets a team zero World Series titles in franchise history. He was a Nebraska football commit as a wide receiver, and while there was some concern about how his speed would play on the bases, he has stolen 32 bases in 34 attempts already. (One of those caughts came in an attempt for third with two outs, says Perfect Game’s Todd Gold, who at my request put a 60 on his speed tool.) That 32-for-34 comes in the Arizona rookie league, yes. That wouldn’t translate to 32-for-34 in the majors, no. But you can take Aramis Ramirez and I’ll take Harrison and we’ll see who gets there first. He’s so fast that scouts check their stopwatches when he runs, realizing, upon doing so, that the battery died and does anybody have a spare?

Angels should sign Fehlandt Lentini
Cost: Pennies.
Realistic: Not what you would call, no
Lentini is playing for the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League, the fifth unaffiliated league (not counting Mexico) he has played in since he last appeared in a big-league organization’s system back in 2003. This summer, he has stolen 42 bases and he hasn’t been caught, the most perfect record in pro baseball this year. He also raps; he’s got an album and everything, though darned if I can find proof of existence. He’s so fast that, when asked whether he has had any memorable at-bats, he answered: “I got to face Mark Prior. Hit a double off him. That…[long pause][still pausing]…no. That's it." In other words, he’s so fast that he could outrun his past.

Dodgers should trade for Roemon Fields
Cost: A prospect equivalent to Roemon Fields
Realistic: Certainly possible
Fields went undrafted in 2013—he played for “a small, christian, liberal arts college, with less than a thousand students, that plays primarily against other teams from small schools in Kansas”—and then took a job as a mailman. While playing in a summer league, he got noticed by a Blue Jays scout and sent to short-season ball this year. He set his club’s single-season stolen base record by July (the season started in June), with more than half the season remaining. He now has 47 steals in 68 games. He’s otherwise nothing of a prospect, hitting 271/.344/.347 in a league he’s about three years too old for, so he shouldn’t be hard to get. So fast that he describes his mailman experience as “chasing, running from dogs.” Dude chases dogs.

Giants should call up Kelby Tomlinson
Cost: Add to the 40-man
Realistic: Sure!
Tomlinson leads the Giants’ Double-A affiliate, the Flying Squirrels, with 49 stolen bases this year. Flying squirrels, you probably know, fly. He’s the flyest of them. Before this, he once led his summer league team, the Liberal Bee Jays, in stolen bases. Liberal Bee Jays, you probably kn—well, actually never mind. We’ve never mentioned him on this site or in a book, and one of his two MiLB highlights is “loses his hat,” so there’s probably no great risk putting him on the 40-man and exposing him to waivers later. He’s so fast that once he hit a line drive right past my ear. I turned around and saw the ball hit his ass sliding into second. I was so high, man.

Cardinals should sign Brendan O’Brien
Cost: Nothing
Realistic: O’Brien would do it, the Cardinals probably wouldn’t, so a 50/50 chance
O’Brien led all Division II baserunners with 52 stolen bases (in 55 games) this year, getting caught just once. In his four-year career he stole 124 and was caught just nine times. He went undrafted and, despite hoping to play independent league ball in the future, he planned to take the summer off to let a broken bone in his hand heal. So fast that when he runs around the house he runs around the house, fast.

Tigers should sign Freddy Guzman
Cost: Very little
Realistic: Inevitable
Guzman, who was also purchased by the Yankees to be a designated runner in August 2009, is available again! He’s back in Mexico, where the Rays found him last year, and he has eight stolen bases in 12 games. He hasn’t played since April, but assuming it’s not a leg injury there’s no reason to think he can’t appear once in a single game and yet somehow play a pivotal role in a pennant race. And it might help David Price to see a familiar face around the clubhouse. Or should I say a familiar… blur? Being so fast?

So there we go. Practically infinite possibilities for elite, baserunning-only September callups. Actually, I was surprised how hard it was to find these guys, even going down to very low levels. The possibilities are finite. Very finite. When I saw that Guzman had been signed last year, I imagined the Rays had all sorts of choices and could just point and pick, like a dim sum restaurant. I wondered, in fact, why they had to go all the way to Mexico and sign a guy as obscure as Guzman. Now it makes a bit more sense. You probably started this article appreciating that fact already.

Hi Billy Burns, I caught up.