By Any Means Necessary

For some, quitting is the easier option. For Willie Argo, he just could not quite bring himself to walk away from the game of baseball, not yet anyway.
 
"I always said that if I didn't think I could play in the big leagues, then that would be the day that I would quit," Argo stated sitting in the Modesto locker room three years older than any of his other teammates. "I'm in A-ball and I'm 27. Some people would be mad about that but I'm just happy to be here."

Argo was drafted three times before finally signing with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2012 after being selected in the 22nd round following his senior year at the University of Illinois. After success at the lower levels of the minor leagues, including 2013 in Advanced-A when he hit .308 with 18 doubles, Argo hit a brick wall in AA in 2014.
"In those first two years the numbers speak for themselves," said Argo. "It wasn't just a 'not good year.' I had an awful year in Double-A. It was one of those years where everything that could go wrong went wrong. I was really hoping I'd get another chance based on my first two years but that didn't work out. I was a late senior sign and you can't have one of those years if you're one of those guys."

Argo was released by the Rays following the 2014 season. Midway through that year, he had already booked time with a hitting coach in St. Louis for the offseason and decided to head down. After revamping his swing, Argo got an opportunity to tryout with the St. Paul Saints of the American Association.
"I thought about quitting but I decided that I didn't want to go out on that note," Argo said of the decision to keep playing. "Honestly I don't think they thought I was going to make the team. They had a bunch of guys that had been in double-A before." 
The American Association is a league independent of Major League Baseball. Managers of each team are in charge of finding and signing their own players. 
"A lot of people are surprised when I tell them that it was awesome," Argo said of his time with the Saints. "I met Bill Murray a few times. He was in the dugout. He'd take BP. He's a nice guy. St. Paul just got a brand new stadium the first year that I was there. We had 8,000 fans a night. We had some really good teams because players could pick where they wanted to go so some guys would take a little bit less money to play there."
The reason Argo had a chance to meet Bill Murray, the legendary Chicago comedian, was because Murray is a part owner of the Saints.
After a strong first season in St. Paul where he hit .287 with 12 home runs, Argo returned to St. Paul in 2016 and got off to a rough start.
"Last year I felt like 'this is going to be it for me' if I don't get picked up [by a MLB franchise] so I put a little pressure on myself," remembered Argo. "In the first 15 games or so I just really, really struggled. Then I just relaxed and I was playing really well but I hurt my shoulder. Once again I didn't want to go out on that note so I was thinking to myself 'oh my god I'm going to play indy ball for the third year in a row. What am I doing?'"
He went to Venezuela to play in their winter league. That was when his phone rang.
 
"I was in Venezuela by the pool and I got a text from Joe Bohringer [who is a special assistant to the GM]," Argo reminisced. "He started talking to me and I thought it was just an inquiry to see if I was still looking to play then he told me 'we have a spot in high-A' would you be interested. I said yeah. Then he asked if I had an agent. I thought he was just calling me to feel me out. He got a hold of my agent who I hadn't talked to in a little bit because I was in indy ball. A week later I signed."