Leo Daigle, 2007 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BC94

Due to the murkiness of this scan, you'll have to take me at my word: those are palm trees beyond the outfield fence in Fort Lauderdale. I'm gazing longingly at this tropical scene because I just heard that there is snow in the forecast in Baltimore for this Sunday, a.k.a. the first day of Spring. Temperatures have been around 70 for the past few days. Very funny, huh? Almost as funny as Topps/Bowman devoting "prospect" cards in multiple 2007 releases to a guy who'd been bouncing around the minors since 1998 and had already been cut loose by the Orioles.

Ryan Finan, 2007 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BC217

It's probably not a good sign for your prospect status when a blogger is looking you up on Baseball Reference a decade after the fact to figure out how far you went in the minors. Ryan Finan was a tall (6'5") corner infielder whom the Orioles drafted out of Lamar University in Texas. He was a 21st-round pick in 2004, and it may comfort him to know that nobody else from that round ever cracked the major leagues. This includes such bright lights as high school shortstop Raymond Honey and Bethune Cookman College pitcher Mumba Rivera. Anyhow, Ryan stuck around in the O's farm system for five years, batting .270/.370/.430 with 46 homers and 259 RBI. Despite those strong on-base skills, he was out of baseball after putting up a .257/.347/.406 line with 11 home runs and 54 RBI with the AA Bowie Baysox in 2008. At 26, he was a bit old for his level, but other players have stuck around the minors far longer with lesser results. Maybe Finan was realistic about his chances of reaching the big leagues, and chose to pursue another line of work rather than continuing to grind away in the Eastern League. He wouldn't be the first.

Bryan Bass, 2007 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BC116

Hey, it's a Bowman prospect card from eight years ago, so the question is: who in the blue hell is Bryan Bass? The Internet tells me that he was the Orioles' first-round compensatory draft pick (31st overall) in 2001, a consolation prize for losing Mike Mussina in free agency. It took Bass, who was selected out of Seminole High School in Florida, six years to make it to AA Bowie. In 170 games over two seasons with the Baysox, Bryan batted .221/.317/.359 with 14 home runs and 60 RBI. The O's cut bait on him after the 2007 season, and that was all she wrote for his baseball career, save for a one-game stint with the Tucson Toros of the independent Golden Baseball League in 2009. So why did Topps/Bowman put him on a "prospect" card when he was on his way out of affiliated baseball? I guess you'd have to ask them.