04/05/2008
By Chris Haft
MLB.com

Jerome Williams, the former Giants right-hander, has signed with the Long Beach Armada of the Golden Baseball League in an effort to revive his career.

Williams, 26, tried to arouse interest from the Giants and other teams this spring after trimming himself to 230 pounds, a 30-pound drop.

"I wish I had done this a long time ago," Williams said. His weight problem followed him from San Francisco to the Chicago Cubs, where the Giants traded him in 2005, and to the Washington Nationals, for whom he pitched last season.

Williams, a first-round selection in the 1999 First-Year Player Draft, was 7-5 with a 3.30 ERA as a rookie for the Giants in 2003 and followed that with a 10-7, 4.24 showing in 2004 before the Giants shipped him and right-hander David Aardsma to the Cubs for reliever LaTroy Hawkins in May 2005. Williams made six starts last year for the Nationals, finishing 0-5 with a 7.20 ERA.

"This is what the Golden Baseball League and the Armada are all about -- bringing in a kid like Jerome to show that he deserves to be back in the Majors and continuing his career," Long Beach manager Steve Yeager said in a statement. "I have no doubt that he'll be back up there soon."

I hope he finds a team some where in the majors that will give him a chance.