Minor league baseball teammate weighs in on if Michael Jordan could have made majors

Michael Jordan had arguably the most prolific career in NBA history, but his other pro sports career was much less successful and much shorter-lived. After winning his third straight championship with the Chicago Bulls, Jordan announced his retirement from basketball to try and become a professional baseball player.

Jordan signed a minor league contract with the White Sox in 1994 and played a season with the Birmingham Barons. The season was full of growing pains for the 31-year-old. He batted .202 and struck out 114 times and attempted to play in a fall league with the Scottsdale Scorpions before eventually returning to the NBA to win three more championships with the Bulls.

But the question remains: Could Jordan have made it to the MLB if he stuck with baseball? CBS Sports' R.J. Anderson asked Barry Johnson, a reliever for the Barons. Johnson said that Jordan certainly had the work ethic, which shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with the NBA legend.

"I prided myself on my work ethic and getting to the field and putting in work, and you could not beat him to the field," Johnson said. "He was there, taking extra batting practice before batting practice. We'd play our games, and he was the last one there, finishing up with Mike Barnett, our hitting coach. I'm sitting here thinking, from a dollars and cents standpoint, this guy does not need to work this hard."

Johnson admitted that "some of the instinctive things were not quite there" but said that if Jordan had committed to it, he would have had a chance to make it to the majors.

"Being with him on a daily basis for six months, and knowing how much work he was putting into it ... I don't think it's that big of a stretch to see him in a big-league uniform," Johnson said.

Former All-Star catcher John Stearns was a minor league manager when Jordan was playing for the Barons, and while he didn't exactly endorse Jordan's talent, he said his name was big enough to generate interest.

"Michael can't really play baseball, but he's not terrible," Stearns said in 1994. "He doesn't have power. His defense is way below average. He can't throw. His baseball instincts are poor. But he can run a little bit and can hit a little bit. Considering he's never played baseball all these years, it's incredible that he's able to hold his own here. He's not a prospect for me. But he may play in the big leagues. You may take him as a 25th guy. Why not?"

So would Jordan have made it to the MLB? He certainly struggled in the minors, but he only played one year after having not played since high school. Ultimately, it's a question that's impossible to answer, but it's unlikely the speculation about it will stop in another 30 years.