Missouri baseball player assesses future after being released by Twins

For the first time in his adult life Danny Powers spent Christmas not knowing who he will be playing baseball for, or, if he even will.

The former Crowder College and Central Missouri State pitching standout was released by the Minnesota Twins organization at the conclusion of the 2007 season.

For now Powers waits and sees if his agent can drum up interest from another team.
Powers turns his focus to coaching, as he signed a contract to coach his alma mater’s freshman boys’ basketball team in Carl Junction prior to being released.

It wasn’t that long ago that Powers was playing basketball for Carl Junction, so the coaching aspect was a different.

“It took a while, it’s a lot of fun, but it took a while to get in the flow of things,” said Powers. “It’s a bit overwhelming, but I got over that the first week or two.”

He has worked closely with high school head coach Lance Robbins (whose sister, Tina, is the womens’ basketball coach at Crowder) to install the varsity offense in the freshman team.

His team is off to a 6-2 start after eight games, with two games lost due to the ice storm.

“I know coaching is something I always wanted to do,” said Powers. “I wanted to coach baseball and I really enjoy basketball. If I stay at the high school level, I’d be more than happy to coach freshmen basketball or baseball. There are a lot of great kids and that carries over into the game.”

If everything goes right for Powers, as soon as basketball season is over, he would likely head to Florida or Arizona for a minor league spring training season.

He went 2-5 with a 5.28 earned run average for the New Britain Rock Cats in the AA Eastern League. He threw 59 2/3 innings, striking out 43 and walking 23. He struggled with a bad first month and never fully recovered. He was demoted to the Florida State League (A ball) where he was 0-0 with a 1.29 earned run average for the Fort Myers’ Miracle. He struck out 14 and walked 13 in 14 innings.

“I was a little surprised I got cut, especially the moves the Twins made afterwards,” said Powers. “They got rid  of all their right handed relief prospects through trades or the Minor League Rule V. I was surprised. I think I finished the year well. They called me and said that ‘we don’t see you on our AA team next year.’

“I feel I had a bad month and one or two blow up outings. I was more disappointed than shocked. Baseball, at this level, is a cut-throat business. I had a five earned run average and in AA I guess that isn’t good enough. I didn’t see me getting to the big leagues with them.”

So far only the Toronto Blue Jays organization has been in contact with Powers and his agent, but nothing official came from that call. The interest hasn’t been very high, which is a little odd for a player that was the National Player of the Year in Division II baseball only three years ago.

“I’m hoping to get an invite for an AA tryout,” he said. “At the same I’m kind of ready to move on. I thought it was a fluke year (this past year) and I want to prove that I can compete at the AA level. I would hope to get a chance. There is nothing flashy about me. I’m not big by baseball’s standards. I don’t throw hard, but I have had a lot of success. But I’m certainly not counting on a call.

“I’m 25 and I’m about ready to settle down and start paying toward owning my own home. Whatever happens, I’d be content.”

Neosho Daily News