The twenty-five year old sits in a heavy wood chair and grips a simple white coffee mug with his left hand. As he looks out the window of his four story apartment, he takes a sip of his coffee and ponders the question for what seems like an eternity before answering. “No, I do not regret my decision to reject each offer I received in the past. Those offers were insulting and my agent determined that it wouldn’t be good for me to sign at such a low rate.”

Fred Thomas has managed to get himself drafted five times by four different teams but failed to sign each and every time. Thomas will again add his name to the list of players hoping to be drafted by a PEBA organization – who knows – maybe the sixth time he will actually sign on the dotted line.

To keep himself busy and to pay the bills, Thomas is working as a human statue in Las Vegas. He dresses up as pretty much any inanimate object complete with full body paint and stands in front of a business for a predetermined rate of pay. He loves to make people think he is made of concrete, stone or metal and shocks them by blinking or cracking a smile at the right moment.

“It is a great job that helps me to stay mentally focused and requires peak physical conditioning,” Thomas says of his current job. “But this is just temporary until I get signed by the right PEBA team and start working my way towards my ultimate goal of winning the PEBA Extreme Championship.”

A quick look at the left-handed hurler’s draft history shows that he was first selected out of Bishop Moore High School by the Manchester Maulers in the 12th round of the 2013 draft. After failing to sign with Manchester, he committed to pitch for West Virginia. Thomas pitched two seasons for the West Virginia Sherpas before being selected by the Reno Zephyrs in the 10th round of the 2016 draft. Thomas failed to sign with Reno and was selected in 2017 by the New Orleans Trendsetters, of course, failing to sign. In 2018 and 2019 he was selected by the Duluth Warriors failing to sign either time.

Will anyone take a chance at signing Fred Thomas in 2020? Rumor has it that he may be willing to lower his demands this time considering his age and questions about his potential. We have all waited a long time to see Fred Thomas pitch for a PEBA organization. Will the 6th time be the charm?