Get To Know Your A's: Jason Pridie
As the 2015 baseball season approaches in Nashville, the affiliate switch to the Oakland Athletics' organization brings about excitement. With that excitement comes a fresh batch of talented prospects. In the time leading up to the season, we will elaborate on a few of the different players that could be heading to Nashville and expand on the anticipation of another year of Triple-A baseball.
Jason Pridie was drafted out of high school by Tampa Bay and has been in professional baseball since 2002. The outfielder has appeared with five Major League teams and has been involved with seven total organizations. He signed with Oakland as a minor league free agent on December 29, 2014 and is a non-roster invitee to Major League Spring Training.
Selected in the 2nd round of the draft, Pridie was named the Arizona High School Player of the Year as a senior in 2002. He began his career with a bang, leading the Appalachian League in many offensive categories. His league-leading 105 hits tied him with Kirby Puckett for 2nd all-time in league history.
The outfielder climbed through the minor league ranks from 2003-06, landing in the Baseball America top 30 prospects list for Tampa Bay each year. He eventually made his Triple-A debut for Durham in 2007, launching a home run in his first at-bat.
The 31-year old went on to make his Major League debut with the Minnesota Twins on September 3, 2008. After more bouncing around, he landed with the Mets and spent the majority of the 2011 season on the big league roster. He batted .231 with four home runs in 101 games that season.
Pridie continued his journey by appearing with the Phillies in 2012, the Orioles in 2013 and the Rockies in 2014. Overall, the veteran was a mid-season All-Star selection with the Southern League in 2007 and the International League in 2013. He won the Southern League championship with Montgomery in 2006 after batting .423 over the span of seven playoff games.
The experienced slugger can be labeled as valuable depth for the Oakland organization and will spend a lot of time with Nashville in 2015.