I've been a fan of (now-former) Padres minor leaguer Corey Adamson for awhile, even to the extent of following his winter league exploits back in his native Perth, Australia. When I saw a tweet from him this morning thanking the Padres organization and saying that he was moving on to the West Coast Eagles, I assumed the Eagles were an Australian summer-league baseball team.
Would like to that the @padres for 6 amazing years! I am extremely excited to take my career in a new direction with the @WestCoastEagles
— Corey Jon Adamson (@coreyadamson) August 11, 2014
He then immediately retweeted the Eagles' announcement, complete with link.
EAGLE ALERT: Our newest recruit comes out of left field. Meet Corey Adamson: http://t.co/aUHgxmAeb2pic.twitter.com/Q7qiAyautg
— West Coast Eagles (@WestCoastEagles) August 11, 2014
I'm not proud of this, but I was about four paragraphs deep before I realized the Eagles were an Australian Football League team, not a baseball team. They're based in Adamson's hometown of Perth, where he also plays winter baseball, as did his father, Australian baseball Hall of Famer Tony Adamson. Since he had been away from the game for over three years, Adamson was exempt from the draft and essentially an international free agent.
With that freedom, Adamson was able to sign with the club he grew up a fan of. Local newspaper Perth Now reported that Adamson did not attend a combine held in the United States by the AFL earlier this season, but dealt with West Coast representatives exclusively.
Adamson was actually amidst a decent year at the plate when he decided to step away. After finishing his 2013 season with 18 games in Lake Elsinore, he returned to the Storm this season and hit .257/ .340/ .399 with 11 doubles, seven triples, and a career-high six home runs in 303 at-bats over 89 games. In parts of six seasons in the lower levels of the Padres organization, Adamson hit .243 with a dozen home runs, twice as many triples, and 74 steals. Last year was his best overall season; he slashed .274/ .365/ .376 in 117 games between Fort Wayne and Lake Elsinore while stealing a career-high 32 bases.
