Another pitcher fighting for a spot on KC's staff alongside such immortals as Jay Witasick, Chris Fussell, and Alvin Morman (now I see how a team with such an outfield could still bomb…) is Shawn Sonnier.
Originally at Chipola (FL) J.C., Sonnier was a 22nd round pick of the Brewers in 1995, but chose to transfer to Panola (TX) CC instead. This got him scouted by the Astros and they tabbed him in the 14th round in 1996, but Sonnier thought he could upgrade some more and stayed in school.
Which was apparently a bad idea, as he went undrafted in '97. Perhaps an injury? I don't know.
Signing on with the Royals, he impressed in rookie ball, but a jump to the bigs seems premature. IRL, Sonnier made nice progress at Wilmington in '99 and Wichita in '00, but struggled to get the golden ticket as an Omaha Golden Spike in 2001.
This was apparently because he'd hurt his elbow, and he missed all of 2002 after Tommy John surgery. This apparently got him released and he made his 2003 comeback in the Cubs chain. Taken by Oakland in the Rule V draft that winter, NBC called him "one of a number of failed prospects once touted as the Royals' Closer of the Future".
He did well enough for Oakland and found himself back in the Royals chain in '05, splitting time between Wichita and Omaha. He wasn't too impressive, but he did well enough to earn an offer from Yokohama in the Japanese league. And those 30,000,000 yen (roughly $255,000) were a lot more than he ever made in Omaha.
But after that it was Sayonara to Sonnier's career.
