The Los Angeles Dodgers signed former Kansas City Chiefs safety Jarrad Page to a minor league contract on Saturday. Page, who played six seasons in the NFL with the Chiefs, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings, has decided to give baseball another shot after playing just one season on the UCLA Bruins baseball team.
Of course the only question that truly matters is, can he cut it?
Page was drafted by major league clubs three times. Most notably back in 2002 as a high school senior, Page was drafted in the second round by the Milwaukee Brewers and offered him $750,000. At the time, Page loathed the idea of having to play in small town U.S.A. (probably Huntsville, Alabama or Beloit, Wisconsin) and wanted to take in the college experience as a UCLA Bruin.
However, Page did play one season in Westwood and put up a feeble .149 average with one home run and 48 strikeouts in 101 at-bats playing as a two-sport athlete for UCLA. Could Page improve on his baseball skills enough as a full-time player to actually make a run at the big club?
Bruins manager John Savage has stated that Page had the skills to be a major leaguer, but that they still needed to be developed, something Page was unable to do by playing football full-time. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out for Page, and if he has to run over somebody at home plate then we know he's got that skill covered.