Hank Blalock needed a second round of teams passing on him to realize there simply wasn’t a market for a guy who hit .234/.377/.459 last season.
Blalock did smack 25 home runs last season but with him being limited to DH and occasional time at first base there simply isn’t a bunch of teams lining up for his services. After he failed to get any other substantial offers this winter he came to camp with Tampa Bay as a non roster invitee hoping to earn some playing time at DH in a platoon with Pat Burrell.
He just didn’t perform well enough to warrant keeping on the roster and after he was told that Reid Brignac was being kept over him he vowed to reject a minor league assignment from the Rays.
Obviously he’s calmed down after not getting a major league offer and has accepted the assignment to Triple-A Durham.
A hot start or an injury are his best cases for returning to the big leagues.
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