If Your Birthday is January 23rd

...you share it with Addison Russell. The Cubs shortstop had his best year in 2016, when the Wrigley Boys erased their 108-year championship drought. But he hasn't blossomed into stardom the way teammate Kris Bryant did. And a suspension for domestic abuse soured his reputation and led to the Cubs non-tendering him this winter. He remains unsigned.

Jeff Samardzija has been a run-of-the-mill pitcher with the Cubs and Giants. What else would you call an 80 - 104 record over parts of 12 seasons? The Giants will be happy to shed his five-year $80 million dollar contract at the end of 2020. Maybe he should have followed his football dreams -- he was a star wide receiver for Notre Dame.

Wily Mo Pena has a catchy name, but never became the star some expected. The lefty power hitter was the big piece who went from the Yankees to the Reds for Drew Henson (yep, another player torn between football and baseball). But save for his age 22 season when he blasted 26 home runs for Cincinnati, his big league career was a disappointment.

No Hall of Famers were born on January 23rd. Looking back on the more than 50 major leaguers sharing this date, the best of the bunch was Chico Carrasquel. The first in the long line of standout shortstops from Venezuela, he spent all of the 1950s playing here in the States, mostly with the White Sox and Indians.

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