The Italian Baseball League club GODO found its shortstop for the upcoming season. The 29-year-old Venezuelan Felix Escalona joins the roster for last year’s seventh place finisher. He began his professional career at the age of 17 with the Houston Astros organization, but never got above the Single-A level with the Texan team.
In the December of 2001 the San Francisco Giants selected him in the rule-5 draft, though losing him in the following spring training to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, which selected him off waivers. Due to the rule-5 draft regulations Escalona had to stay on the Major League roster all season long and made his big league debut, batting .217 (OBP .262/SLG .293) in 59 games.
In 2003 he played for the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay organizations adding ten more MLB games to his resume. In 2004 he joined the New York Yankees for three seasons, though spending most of his time with the Triple-A affiliate in Columbus, Ohio. He finished with a Major League batting average of .209 (.261/.282) in 84 games. In 837 Minor League games he had a line of .262/.317/.388.
After the 2006 season Escalona didn’t find another Major League employer and was already half way to Grosseto, Italy to play in the IBL. However a Mexican Team called and he played there in 2007. He moved to the Can-Am League and the Ottawa Rapids in 2008, batting .330 (.373/.420) with 18 runs and 13 RBI in 100 at bats over 27 games. He replaces David Skrehot at short in GODO.
