The Mexicutioner

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Joakim (but we'll call him Jack) who lived in the distant land of Mexico. Jack was a quiet boy. When he was little, he played baseball with his friends. They all wanted Jack to be on their side, because Jack was good at baseball. Jack was a pitcher -- a good pitcher.

Somewhere along the way a scout -- no, not a Boy Scout, a professional baseball scout -- came to Mexico to see Jack and his friends play baseball. The Scout also wanted Jack to be on his side, and, October 31, 2001, when Jack was 17 years old, he signed a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The following season he pitched a total of five innings for the Gulf Coast League Dodgers, a Rookie-league affiliate of the team he had signed with the year before. But due to injuries, that was all Jack would pitch with the Dodgers. They released him on October 12, 2004.

But Jack continued to play with his friends in La Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (that's "The Mexican Baseball League," for all of you Gringos out there). Then, one day, more than a year after being released, another scout came to see Jack play ball. He also wanted Jack on his side, and he signed a new free agent contact with the San Diego Padres.

The next season Jack played with some new friends on the Fort Wayne Wizards, the single-A minor league affiliate of the Padres. But, Jack only played in 7 games that season, and only threw 12 innings.

Because Jack was still so young, 20 years old at that time, and because he had not thrown much for the Padres, he was not included on their 40-man roster. Jack was still considered a project that would take more time to develop, and the 40-man roster was reserved for players who were ready to play in the big leagues at any time.

But, as in all good fairy tales, there's a twist.

In Major League baseball there is a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Players Association (the most powerful Union on Earth) and the Owners. Rule 5 of that agreement sets the parameters for an annual draft to be held during the Winter Meeting for General Managers in December. The purpose of this draft is to ensure that no club can stockpile young, talented players in their minor league teams who might otherwise have a shot to play in the big leagues if they were with a different organization. Any player that is not on a 40-man roster is eligible to be drafted by another team. However, the team that selects a player must immediately place that player on their 25-man Major League roster, and the player must remain there the entire season or else he will be sent back to his original club. This is called the Rule 5 draft.

Now back to our story...

In 2006 there was another scout who saw Jack pitch. But this scout saw something the other scouts had not seen. This scout saw something special about Jack and he definitely wanted him on his side. So, a little later that year, in December of 2006, the Kansas City Royals selected Joakim Soria in the Rule 5 draft. He had been left unprotected by the San Diego Padres (and who can blame them, really), so the Royals decided he was worth a shot.

Then, December 9, 2006, just two days later, while Jack was playing with his friends in Mexico, he pitched a perfect game. 27 men came to the plate that day, and 27 men made their way back to the dugout, unsuccessful at reaching first base.

The Royals were glad to have Jack on their side, but he was only 22 years old when the 2007 season began, so they understood that he might still need some time before he would be competitive at the Major League level. But, according to the rules of the Rule 5 draft, the Royals had to keep Jack on the Major League team for the entire season before being able to option him to the minor leagues for further development. So, that year, Jack was going to be pitching out of the bullpen.

On April 4, 2007, the Royals were losing 1-7 against the Red Sox. The game was all but out of hand, so they decided to give Jack a chance to pitch in the Major Leagues. In his debut, he pitched two-thirds of an inning and allowed no runs and no hits, walking one batter. He pitched pretty well in his first time out. But Jack would continue to pitch well. In the next week, he would pitch 5 1/3 innings in four games and allowed no runs, only one hit and one walk while striking out six men and earning his first Major League save on April 10th against the Toronto Blue Jays. He finished the season with 17 saves, 19 BB, 75 SO, with an ERA of 2.48. Not bad for a guy with fewer than 20 innings pitched in the minor leagues.

This season, Jack has been even better. He earned his 23rd save last night (his 23rd in 24 tries), while striking out 41 in 35 innings of work. Jack is now one of the best closers in the game today. The Royals recently signed him to a big contract extension worth a lot of money. Joakim the Dream is living it. He now has many nicknames: Cap'n Jack, Joakim No-Scoria and the Emancipator (because of his sweet Abe-Lincoln beard) just to name a few. But the one that best describes his emotionless efficiency is his new-found title -- the title of The Mexicutioner. Royals fans everywhere -- Jack's new friends -- are overjoyed now that he's on their side.