He got a job via LinkedIn—Major League player

Having long been interested in the real estate business, Garrett had gotten his real estate license in 2018 and 2019, and in 2020 began what he thought would be his new career.

“I was doing well,” Garrett said. “I had sold several houses, some to buddies, some to investors. I was doing pretty well.”

Still, Garrett couldn’t help but think he still had something to offer the game of baseball.

So he signed with an independent league for the next year. He had joined LinkedIn when he first got his real estate license because he heard it could be important for business.

“I was about to delete LinkedIn, two weeks before I got [a] message,” Garrett said. “There was an old video coordinator from the Gulf Coast League, my first year of pro ball. He reached out and said, ‘Hey, glad to see you doing real estate.’ I said, ‘Hey, do you know anybody that needs an outfielder? I feel like I can still compete at Double-A or above.’ He said, ‘No, but let me ask around.’ We had an [former] Marlins guy in the front office with the Diamondbacks, Brett West. Two days later I was signed to come to Spring Training. It’s pretty crazy.”