As he was wrapping up high school, Trent Baker emailed Angelo State University to ask if he could try out for their baseball team.
Angelo State is a Division II powerhouse in West Texas, a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Baker’s hometown of Georgetown, outside Austin. The coaches in San Angelo had heard of him and offered him a $500 scholarship. Like the rest of his teammates, he’d have to earn a full ride.
In Angelo State’s facility, there’s a wall full of alums who have played professionally. However, only three have reached the majors. Norm Cash played 2,089 games from 1958 to 1974. He hit .271/.374/.488 in his 17-year career, made five All-Star teams, and won the 1968 World Series with the Detroit Tigers.
The New York Yankees took Tommy Gramly in the 23rd round of the 1965 draft. However, he transferred to Texas Christian University, and the Cleveland Guardians took him in the fourth round a year later. He only played one season in the majors, making three relief appearances for Cleveland in 1968.
Finally, Jim Morris attended Angelo State and pitched for the Tampa Bay Rays in 1999 and 2000. Morris reached the majors at age 35, and his improbable path to Major League Baseball became a hit film. Dennis Quaid played him in the 2002 Disney movie, The Rookie.
However, each of those situations comes with a caveat. Norm Cash went to Angelo College, as it was known then, to play football. He picked up baseball there as a sophomore, but he finished his college career at Sul Russ University in Alpine, Tex. Cleveland drafted Gramly out of TCU.
Morris attended four colleges in Texas. Angelo didn’t have a baseball team when Morris attended in 1991 and 1992. However, he led Division II football in punting yards as a 28-year-old in his second season at Angelo College. He stopped playing football after graduating from Angelo and restarted his improbable baseball journey.
Therefore, Baker would be the first true Angelo College star to reach the majors if he makes Minnesota’s roster as a Rule 5 pick this year.
Baker grew up a Texas A&M fan in the heart of Longhorn country. Despite living in Georgetown, a suburb of 100,000 people north of Austin, his father, Bryan, was a die-hard Aggies fan. Neither Baker nor his father roots for the Dallas Cowboys or Houston Texans. They only follow A&M. However, Bryan gave up his Aggie tickets in 2011 to help support Baker’s career, the year before Johnny Manziel became the biggest star in college football.
Trent Baker considered transferring to Texas A&M as a grad student after pitching for four years at Angelo State, which had become a baseball powerhouse after restarting the program in 2005. He started on a $500 scholarship and had played on a partial scholarship as a sophomore before earning a full ride in his final two seasons.
However, the St. Louis Cardinals took him in the ninth round of the 2021 draft. Baker opted to sign with St. Louis instead of heading to College Station to play at A&M. He reached Double-A with the Cardinals in 2024 before the Twins selected him in the minor league Rule 5 draft last year.
It was a full-circle moment for Baker, who had pitched for Mankato in the Northwoods League as a 20-year-old in 2019. He had a 2.86 ERA in 11 Double-A starts last year, earning a call-up. However, Baker had a 4.96 ERA in 24 appearances with the St. Paul Saints last season. Still, he did enough to earn an invite to spring training this year.
“When I got rule 5’d here, I thought, ‘This is going to be a good thing,’ Baker told Theo Tollefson last year.
“Got some great coaching this spring in Double-A. Tribute to the pitching coaches down there, Ryan Ricci and Jesus Sanchez. Those guys helped me a ton to help me get to where I am now. I’m throwing harder and have better pitches, better pitch shapes, just improving my attack plan with how my stuff plays against the hitters.”
The 6’3”, 243 lbs. righty has an opportunity to break into Minnesota’s bullpen if he pitches well in Triple-A this year. He would debut at 28, late for most players but earlier than Jim Morris. He likely won’t become a five-time All-Star like Norm Cash. However, he could end up making more appearances than Tommy Gramly.
Regardless, if Baker reaches the majors this year, he’ll be Minnesota’s best underdog story. He’d be the first Angelo State player to make a big-league roster since the program restarted in 2005, and the first to spend his entire college career there.
Trent Baker is a Texan who doesn’t watch the NFL. He was born in Austin but roots for the Aggies. A minor-league Rule 5 pick who could become the first player from a Division II powerhouse to reach the majors. Baker could become Minnesota’s best spring training story this year.
